


Where Our Paths Met

by LoiteringDragon



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Comedy, Cute, F/M, Family Secrets, Naruto is Just Naruto, Original Character(s), Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, gaara is gonna have a love interest too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24351136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoiteringDragon/pseuds/LoiteringDragon
Summary: Akina Seto. A terribly ordinary girl who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. A girl who just wanted have a family to call her own, friends to hang out with. A girl who didn't want to be so ordinary anymore. When she moved to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, she knew that this would be her chance to shine. This would be the place she would meet new people and become someone she was proud of. And maybe she gets help along the way by a hyperactive boy who wants to be recognized for his efforts, and become Hokage someday.
Relationships: Gaara (Naruto)/Original Female Character(s), Uzumaki Naruto/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	1. The First Step

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Fanfic here on ao3. I finally had the confidence to post it here, along with other amazing stories. I rewatched Naruto recently and I just wanted to put my own take on it. I hope you all like it. Please be nice!

The day was clear, with few clouds in the sky. The wind was subtle but not unwanted, moving stray leaves from the trees to the ground, causing them to crunch under Akina's foot as she walked the path laid before her.

She had been walking for days now, trying to find her way through the geography of the land. Though she had a map, it didn't really help that she didn't understand it at all. But, she knew she was going the right way, the wind was telling her so, in its whispers, telling her to keep going on this path and in a days time she will be in front of the gates of the Hidden Leaf village, her new home. A new beginning, a new start. The thought made Akina smile to herself. She really needed the change of scenery, and even more a change of lifestyle.

In her old home, there wasn't much, just a small town, a part of the village Hidden in the Mist. The town didn't really have a name, nothing worth mentioning. It wasn't even on any maps, that is how insignificant it was. It's even more irrelevant now since it's been burned and raided and looted a couple months ago. This was the reason why Akina left, and decided to find solace at the Hidden Leaf Village, to make a new life for herself. It definitely helps that she doesn't know who her parents are, and the people of the village were strangely wary of Akina. 

She remembered a vivid memory of the village elders telling her to never interact with anybody, to stay and hide, especially when the new moon comes. She never knew what they meant, and to this day she was still confused on the new moon bit, it always confused her. She did get oddly weak on new moons, but nothing bad would happen. And since nothing bad ever happens, she never really thought of it seriously. But then again, the new moon was out when the village was burned and raided, and Akina couldn't really remember what happened...It's like there was a barrier set on her mind to make her not remember, and it hurt to try.

Her brows furrowing in frustration, Akina walked on, trying to figure out what happened, but just ending up with a headache. She sighs and relaxing her muscles. The tension of trying to remember becoming too much for her mind. "I probably shouldn't push myself so hard..." Akina muttered to herself, setting her backpack down to grab a drink of water from her canister. With a few swigs down, and a refreshed mindset, she put her backpack back on and started to walk faster down the path, a renewed vigor, wanting to get to the village earlier than in a day.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi stood in front of the Third Hokage. Naruto yawned, Sasuke looking bored, and Sakura glancing from the room to Sasuke to seem inconspicuous, but failing. Kakashi shook his head, then gave his attention to Lord Fourth. "Seeing as you called us here, I'm sure you have a mission for my team and I?" Kakashi asked. Lord Third cleared his throat and nodded. He fumbled for a few seconds to find the right file. When he did find it, he gestured for Kakashi to take it, which he did. 

"This is a simple C rank mission, you four are to meet up and escort a girl around a year or two older than Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. She is coming from a very small town in the village Hidden in the Mist. Unfortunately, the town was burned down and raided recently, and the only survivor was her." the Third explained. Kakashi nodded as he read along the explanation. 

"Understood, we will get ready immediately. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, you guys get your things ready and meet me in front of the Konoha gates within two hours." Kakashi commanded the three genin. 

"Why are we leaving so early?!?" Naruto sputtered, "we barely got back from the Land of Waves a week ago! And I haven't even been to Ichiraku's since we've been back!" 

"You know, for someone who wants to become Hokage someday, you sure do complain a lot." Kakashi sighed in exasperation. 

"Yeah Naruto, stop complaining so much. Can't you be a little quieter, like some people." Sakura chided in, referring to Sasuke who wasn't paying attention to the conversation. 

"Sakura! Why are you taking his side?! You just side you were tired to, ya know!" 

"Yes, but I know when to be responsible and suck it up, unlike you, you idiot!" Sakura jabbed. She huffed and looked in the opposite direction of Naruto to indicate she was done arguing. Naruto slumped his shoulders in defeat and sighed. Kakashi chuckled softly and rubbed the back of his head, bowing politely to the Third. 

"Sorry about them, they never learn." Kakashi said. The Third waved a dismissive hand.

"No matter, just make sure to get her here safely. And Kakashi, I need to have a word with you privately." the Third said, indicating for the genin to leave his office. When they were signaled to leave, all three bowed and turned to leave, quietly closing the door behind them. 

"What did you want to discuss with me?" Kakashi asked curiously. The Third Hokage folded his hands underneath his head and settled his chin on top of them and looked at Kakashi with a serious gaze. 

"I know I said this was a C rank mission, but there is more to it than I originally thought. You see, the one requested this mission was the Mizukage himself." Lord Third said. This made Kakashi intrigued. "He wouldn't give me a lot of detail as to why he requested us to escort young Akina to our village, but what he did say was that this girl is extremely special for reasons that we don't know, that the Mizukage wouldn't disclose just yet. But if I am assuming correctly, this girl is the last member of a very long and very powerful bloodline, and the Mizukage wants her to be protected at all costs, so we must do our jobs as shinobi of the Leaf to make sure she is not harmed." the Third said. Kakashi nodded sharply.

"If I may ask, what clan could she be from?" Kakashi asked. Lord Third hesitated for a few moments, debating on if he should tell Kakashi or not. He looked to his advisers, making eye contact with them. In the end, they all agreed to tell him. 

"She might be the last living member of the Seto clan." 

Kakashi gasped, his visible eye practically bulging out of his head. "The Seto clan? I thought they were exterminated more than fifteen years ago." 

The Seto clan. Once revered as gods of the natural elements long ago. It was said that they evolved so much in there ninjutsu that they didn't need to make hand signs, and their taijutsu was on par with the Leaf's own Hyuga clan. And in some branches of the bloodline, their genjutsu was just as terrifying as the Uchiha's genjutsu. They were a force to be reckoned with, and many people were scared of them, as much as they admired them. But with power comes the people who wanted them dead. The clan was soon executed by their own village, in fear they would do something to the people. It was a tragedy many tried to forget.

"Yes well, rumors were spreading around the land that a woman escaped, and apparently she was pregnant with who you are assigned to meet today. Though she probably doesn't know anything of her heritage and blood, and I want to keep it that way. Don't say anything, not even the your team." the Third warned. Kakashi nodded sharply. "Good, you may leave now." the Third said, dismissing Kakashi. He bowed lowly and quickly, then in a puff of smoke he was gone. The Third Hokage sighed and rubbed eyes, hoping to any god that would listen that they would all be safe on this journey. 

When the two hour time limit came to an end, Kakashi jumped to the front gates of Konoha, and saw his teammates already there, packed and ready to go. He landed next to Naruto and waved in greeting. "I see that you are all ready to go." He said, smiling through his mask. 

"You're five minutes late Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, her hands on her hips. 

"Oh, was I? I didn't notice."

"Yeah, well we did!" Naruto said, siding with Sakura. She nodded her head in agreement. Kakashi chuckled, not really knowing what to say. Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighs.

"Do you ever shut up, you dolt?" Sasuke said pointedly to Naruto. Naruto glared right back and cracked his knuckles.

"What'd you say?!?" Naruto yelled out, winding up his arm to hit Sasuke square in the face, but Kakashi caught his hand before he could. 

"Now now, teammates shouldn't fight each other. Besides we need to get going." Kakashi said. He let go of Naruto's fist and pushed him along so they could finally begin their search for Akina Seto.

In the first thirty minutes of the journey, it was pretty quiet, with the occasional muttered insult from Naruto towards Sasuke, to which Sasuke ignored. But when thirty minutes became six hours, things started to get a little tense. 

"Sensei! Where are we even going?!" Sakura cried out, tired of all the walking they were doing.

"Well, we are following the path that leads into Konoha, to see if we run into her while we walk down the same path." Kakashi explained. 

"I understand that, but we've been walking for six hours straight and I haven't seen another living soul at all!" Sakura complained. Kakashi rolled his eyes and sighed. He really didn't want to walk either, but what else were they supposed to do. 

As Kakashi was about to answer, a scream was heard throughout the forest, startling all four the shinobi. "What was that?" Sasuke muttered to himself, carefully taking a kunai out of his pouch. 

"I don't know, but it could be the girl we're looking for!" Naruto yelled out and dashed off the direction of the scream.

"Wait Naruto, you can't ju-- oh nevermind. Sasuke, Sakura let's go!"

As Naruto ran through the trees, he came to a sudden halt to see a girl with snow white hair hanging upside down from a tree with a rope. She was also surrounded by three ninja. Their kunai were out, and they were laughing maliciously. Before Naruto had a chance to consider going down there to help the girl, there was hand holding him in place. He looked over to see it was Kakashi, with Sasuke and Sakura following quietly behind. Naruto whispered to Kakashi, "Who are they?"

"Rogue ninja it seems." Kakashi responded back quietly. "Okay, on my command, we'll all go in and surprise them. Knock them out and then get to the girl." Kakashi whispered. Naruto nodded, along with Sasuke and Sakura. He nodded and gestured for them to move out. 

Naruto quickly jumped out with a kunai in hand, and promptly kicked one of the ninja in the face causing his head to move in an unnatural way, and instantly knocking him out. Kakashi made quick hits to the second ninja, stabbing all his vitals points and also instantly knocking him out. Sakura and Sasuke made quick work of the last rogue, them both hitting him in the face on either side, at the same time, knocking him out too. "Well, that was fast." Naruto laughed out.

"Yeah, for rogue ninja, they weren't that strong. They didn't even sense us." Sasuke said, putting his kunai back in his pouch.

"You guys have a point. They were pretty compared to most ninja that go rogue. I wonder..." Kakashi concurred, trailing off into his own thoughts. The genin seemed to do the same, perplexed as to how they won so easily like that. 

"Uhm, not to interrupt your brainstorming, but do you think you could help me get down from here?" Akina said from her position upside down. Naruto heard her first and gasped loudly. 

"Oh right! Sorry about that!" Naruto threw his kunai at the rope, successfully cutting it, causing Akina to fall. Naruto made sure to catch her, then slowly drop her to the ground. Akina patted her clothes down for any dust and rubbed her hair down, making it less of a mess than it was when she was upside down. Naruto looked at her more closely. She was really pale, her eyes a deep blue, but yet red at the same time. Her eyelashes and eyebrows were also white. Everything about her screamed fragility. She seemed like the personification of snow. Yet, Naruto got the feeling she was strong, very strong. Maybe it was the way she held herself, or the gaze in her eyes when she met Naruto's.

She smiled and bowed, then bowed to the other three. "Thank you all for helping me, I was quite in a bind there." Akina said politely. Naruto chuckled and put his hand behind his head in a casual pose. 

"Aww, no problem, what are ninja for!" Naruto said confidently.

"Yes, Naruto is quite right here. But, are you by any chance Akina Seto?" Kakashi asked. Akina blinked up at him and nodded suspiciously. Kakashi's eye crinkled, signaling his smile from under the mask, and held out his hand to her. "Oh good. My name is Kakashi," she shook his hand," and this is my team, Sasuke," Akina shook Sasuke's hand,"Sakura," she then shook Sakura's hand, "and Naruto here, who cut you down from the tree." Kakashi finished as Akina shook Naruto's hand.

"That's right, Naruto Uzumaki! Amazing ninja and future Hokage!" Naruto said loudly, a big grin on his face. Akina couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you. My name is Akina Seto, wandering traveler, trying to find her way to Konoha." she said to them.

"Yes, we were actually asked to meet you and escort you the rest of the way to Konoha." Kakashi said to her. "Now that we have found you, let us lead the way to your new home."

"Thank you very much." Akina said gratefully. She looked around and quickly found her backpack behind a tree. Putting it on, she looked to the group and smiled, indicating she was ready to leave when they were.

They set out again, going back Konoha this time. As they walked, Akina felt eyes on her and looked to her left to see Naruto stealing glances at her every once in awhile. She seem confused, was there something on her face? No, she didn't think so. Maybe something else...But, oh well. She smiled when she met eye contact with him. Naruto blushed a little in embarrassment at being caught. To distract himself, he started to talk with Sakura. Akina watched them interact, interested in how this blonde boy acted. He was pretty rambunctious for how small he was. She smiled to herself. She hoped when she got to Konoha, everybody acted like this. Loud and open. This would be her first step to a bigger, better life.


	2. Getting to know you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second Chapter out!

They were two hours into their walk to Konoha. Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke in the front, on the lookout and making sure that everything was safe to continue their journey. Naruto was in the rear with Akina. Both were silent and awkward, unsure if they should talk to each other or just keep silent. 

Akina gazed over to her right, trying to be discreet when looking at Naruto. She noticed that she was indeed taller than him by about one or two inches, his hair probably at the same height as her own head. She also noticed the three scratch marks he had on his cheeks, making him look like he had whiskers. To her, it made him look a little cuter. In a cat kind of way. Akina looked down to see that his hands were rough, callused. She looked at her own hands and saw how soft and clean they were. She was impressed.

When she looked up from her hands back to Naruto's face, she was shocked to see that Naruto was already staring at her. She stared back and blinked, opening her mouth slightly to ask what he was looking at, but he interrupted her with a loud question. "So, why are you moving to our village, huh? You being hunted or somethin'?" 

"Naruto, you don't just ask those things! That's personal!" Sakura pointed out, coming to the rear to hit Naruto in the shoulder, punishment for his lack of awareness. Naruto yelped in pain and rubbed out the injury. 

"What, it was just a question and I was curious, jeez." Naruto muttered. Akina giggled and shook her head.

"No, it's okay. I started my trek to Konoha because when my town was burned and looted, I didn't really have anywhere else to go. And when I was losing the enthusiasm to really leave my home, I remembered a shinobi from the Leaf that was stuck there because of an injury. I was tasked by the elders to help him heal faster, since they didn't really like strangers."

"You know medical ninjutsu?"Sakura couldn't help but ask, interrupting Akina from her explanation. Akina tilted her head in thought.

"It's kind of like medical ninjutsu, but with water." she replied. Sakura then came to Akina's left in excitement, ready to know more about this unique way of healing. 

"Really? That sounds so complicated." Sakura said, thinking how someone can possibly heal someone with just water. Akina smiled at her and nodded.

"I've heard it was, but when the elders found out about it, they told me that it was a very strange, but beneficial for them. I don't really know how I can do it. I just can." Akina shrugged. "I can tell you more about it when we get to the village if you want." Sakura eagerly nodded her head. "But, anyway, when the shinobi was bedridden, I took care of his wounds and such, and asked him about his home. He told me so much, about how they were a lot of people, about how peaceful and beautiful it is, about how there are the heads of the past Hokage etched into the mountain in the back of the village. I was starstruck really." Akina sighed out the last part. "And ever since then, I've wanted to visit." she finished. Sakura looked up at the sky, thoughtful of the story. Naruto was now more intrigued of this girl.

She lost so much in such a short span of time, from what he could tell (and what he already knew). But yet, she was kind. Naruto didn't feel any ill will coming from her. If anything, her aura was calm and soft. She was just so....Naruto couldn't put his finger on it. It's like he wanted to protect her at all costs, but that wouldn't make sense, he just met her. He shook his head, trying to shake the confusing thoughts out. 

Out of nowhere a new voice was heard. "How are you so happy right now? Your town was raided, your people, possibly friends and family murdered, nothing about this situation should warrant a smile." Sasuke said nonchalantly. The rest of the group looked at him in surprise. The fact that he was showing interest in something was mind boggling at best. Akina cleared her throat a little, not prepared for such a blunt question. Kakashi and Sakura were stunned, but Naruto was irritated; what kind of question is that?

"Well, I am upset about what has happened, I just don't like dwelling on things like that. So, I'd prefer it if you didn't assume that I am not hurting. I am very much hurt. And shocked. And absolutely angry that the place that I have lived in since I can remember was destroyed. But, with that being said, it is what it is, as much as I didn't want it to happen, and as much as I wanted to stop it all, I was too weak,"Akina looked down stopped walking. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and stared at her. "and that it part of the reason why I am going to the village Hidden in the Leaves. To get stronger. To better myself. So that, when I do find a new home that I love, I will be able to protect it." Akina ended, her shoulders back and her head held high. She stared back at Sasuke. He glared for another second before turning to the front and continued walking. 

"Whatever...." he murmured to myself. Akina let out a huff and glared at his back. She was going to say more in retaliation to his discourteous behavior, but Naruto wrapped an arm around Akina and cackled. 

"Way to go stupid, you made her angry!" Naruto said.

"Oh no, I'm not angry, just.....proudly assertive if need be?" Akina questioned at the end. Naruto laughed even more. 

"I don't know what know what that word means, but if you make Sasuke look like that, I will definitely consider you a friend!" Naruto exclaimed. Akina processed his words and smiled widely. 

"Really?!? Really really?! That's great! I've never really had friends before. All the kids my age back in my town would never play with me or hang out, so this is great!" Akina said excitedly. She clasped her hands and looked to Sakura. "Can we be friends too, Sakura. I would love it if we were!" Sakura looked to the side and blushed a little.

"Hehe, I don't see a problem with that. Sure, let's be friends, Akina." Sakura said. Akina smiled at Sakura then took her and Naruto's hand and started running ahead of Kakashi and Sasuke in elation. 

"Okay! Let's hurry up and get to Konoha!" Akina said happily. Kakashi chuckled at her energy. But Sasuke on the other was trying not to pay attention to it (he wasn't successful though).

By the time everyone get to the gates of Konoha, the sun was setting, the colors of the sky a mix of reds and pinks. Kakashi waved to Izumo and Kotetsu, indicating their arrival. They waved back, then resumed their jobs at guarding the gates. Kakashi stopped in front of the four kids. "Okay, since we safely got Akina back to the village, you guys are dismissed. Go home, go sleep, get some rest." Kakashi said. Sasuke nodded and immediately started to walk away. Sakura waved goodbye to Akina and walked in the opposite direction of Sasuke, though looking back to see if Sasuke was already gone. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't want to leave just yet. 

Kakashi looked at him expectedly, waiting for him to leave, but when he didn't go, he sighed. "Naruto, do you have a question?" Naruto shrugged and looked at anywhere but Kakashi. He didn't really know why he wasn't leaving, he could go to Ichiraku right now. He looked to Akina, who was also curious. His cheeks warmed a smidge and avoided her stare. 

"No, I just was thinking of what to do. And I decided to go to Ichiraku's! Bye Kakashi- sensei! Bye Akina, see you later!" Naruto said, then jumped to the nearest roof and ran along them hastily. 

"Oh bye Naruto!" Akina called out, but highly doubting she heard him. She turned to Kakashi. "So, where to now?" she asked him.

"Now, I have to take you to Hokage's office to see where he is going to put you, since you'll be living here now." Kakashi pointed behind him, specifying the direction they will be going. Akina nodded and followed suit.

Kakashi knocked on the Hokage's office, waiting for access to walk in. When he heard the grunt of a yes, he opened the door and let Akina walk in first. Once in the center of the room, she bowed lowly. "Lord Hokage, it is nice to finally meet you. And thank you for letting me live here for the foreseeable future." 

"My child, there is no need for such courtesies. On behave of Konoha and it's people, we welcome you to our beautiful village." the Lord rasped out. Akina felt her heart warm at how kind he was. He cleared his throat and continued on. "But I do have some unfortunate news. Sadly, we don't have any available places for you to stay in. It is a real predicament we have here." 

"Oh no, that's fine, it's understandable. Maybe there is a hotel I can stay in until there is something available?" she asked. The Hokage nodded. He looked at the paper that indicated the nonexistent vacancies in Konoha, thinking. He glanced to Akina, then Kakashi, and looked at he paper again. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"Kakashi." Lord Hokage called out. 

"Yes, Lord."

"What do you think about having a roommate?" the Hokage said, smirking. Kakashi gaped at him. He looked to Akina to the Hokage and to Akina again. Akina looked just as dumb founded as he felt.

"M-my Lord, I don't know if that is really appropriate--I mean, I don't think Akina here would be very comfortable living with a stranger she just met." Kakashi opposed. 

"Nonsense! I think this is a great idea! She can even train with Team 7 is she so desires. Young Akina, you do know basic shinobi training and such, right?"

"A-ah, yes I was trained by some teachers the elders appointed me before the raid happened, so I know some jutsu." Akina responded. 

"Good! Then it's decided, you will stay with Kakashi. At least until we can find a new home for you. You may leave now and get acquainted more with each other." he said and waved them off. Kakashi sighed and led Akina out into the hallway. As they were walking through the building to get to the main entrance, Akina looked up to Kakashi guiltily.

"I'm sorry about this Mr. Kakashi, I didn't think he would make me live with you." she said softly. Kakashi chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, and you can just call me Kakashi. We're gonna be living together from now on, so no need to be so formal." Kakashi said and patted Akina on the head. Akina smiled and nodded. 

Once Kakashi and Akina got to Kakashi's place, he opened the door and closed it behind her. She looked around, pleasantly surprised at how clean and spacious it was. There was kitchen, a sofa on one wall, a bed on the other, a closet. The bathroom being on the other side of the apartment. It was quite cozy. 

Kakashi showed Akina where everything was, from towels to appliances, and told her to put her things anywhere she wanted. "I have a second bedroom, but I've been using as a sort of office. Since you're here now, I'll get the proper necessities tomorrow; it's too late to do it today." Kakashi said. 

"I can go with you, if you need any help." Kakashi shook his head, going to grab a towel from the cabinet, signaling he was going to take a shower. 

"It's fine. What you can do, maybe, is go into town tomorrow and get yourself comfortable with the land. Meet the people." he said, then walked into the bathroom. "Oh, there is some food in the fridge if you are hungry at all." Kakashi called out through the door. Akina looked to the fridge, but wasn't that hungry. She was mostly tired, her legs soon going to give out. She sat on the sofa, happy that it was actually soft. Sighing, she laid down, putting her feet up. She felt her eyelids getting heavy, her breathing evening out, showing she was asleep. 

Kakashi came out of the bathroom, clean, with fresh clothes on. When he saw Akina fast asleep on the sofa, he got a blanket for her and put it over her. He huffed and smiled. "Good night to you too." he whispered to Akina. He turned off the lights, dropped his towel in a nearby hamper, and also got ready for bed. Once all cozied up under the covers, Kakashi took out the latest addition to Icha Icha Paradise, letting the moonlight be his lamp.


	3. Getting to know you part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this addition to the story!

Akina awoke the next day, the sunlight sinking into the apartment. As she slowly got up from the sofa,rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she noticed that Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Getting up from her makeshift bed, Akina noticed there was a plate of food and a note next to it.

Akina,

Sorry I had to leave you this morning, but I was summoned by the Hokage for some business. Make sure to eat the food I made for you, and then I suggest you go into town and explore, like I said yesterday. Have a nice day!

Kakashi

Akina set the note down and sat down. She took the fork beside the plate full of food and began to eat. It was delicious to say the least. Who knew that Kakashi was so skilled in the kitchen, He doesn't seem like the type... Akina thought to herself. Once done, she walked over to the bathroom, deciding to take a quick shower to clean herself up a bit. She did smell quite bad.

When she was done with her shower, she changed her clothes into some clean ones; a light blue dress with some black tights underneath, long slits going up the sides, and a white string used as a belt. It was one of her favorite dresses she got from one of the elders that was more kind to her than the other two were. A bittersweet memory, making Akina remember many other sweet things from her old home. It made her chest clench with sadness. Akina shook her head and patted her chest harshly, shaking the hurt away. "Okay. Let's go see this village." Akina muttered to no one in particular.

She put her shoes on in the entryway. She tightened the buckles on the back and got up. Akina grabbed her satchel, looking inside to see if her money was still there. With a nod, she turned the knob of the front door and opened it, greeting the world with a smile and optimism.

The town was bustling and loud. People were going in and out of stores. Families all laughing together. Friends finding places to hangout. Even a few couples being all lovey dovey with each other. It was nice to see. The peace, the happiness, the overall aura of love spreading all throughout the village. It felt amazing. Akina's smile grew bigger and brighter. The warmth of the people affecting her mood immensely.

As she walked around, she noticed a familiar pink haired girl next to a flower shop. Walking faster, Akina tapped Sakura on the shoulder, trying to catch her attention. Sakura whipped around and noticed Akina behind her, waving. "Oh, Akina! Good morning!" she exclaimed. 

"Good morning to you too.What are you doing in a flower shop?" Akina asked Sakura, looking at the many flowers the shop held. Sakura shrugged. 

"I was asked by my mom to get some new flowers for the house. She likes to keep the house smelling nice for guests."

"Oh, that's nice. I would do the same. The smell of flowers is quite relaxing." Akina responded back. Sakura giggled. She nudged her head in the direction of the street, wanting Akina to follow her. 

"Do you have many different types flowers where you are from?" Sakura inquired. Akina thought for a moment.

"Well, from what I can remember there were these types of white flowers that always bloomed around our town in the spring and summer. They were very pretty, and smelt like mint." 

"Wow, I've never heard of such a flower. Maybe they only bloomed there." Sakura suggested. Akina shrugged, contemplative.

"Probably, but I'm not sure. I haven't ever traveled outside the borders of the Land of Waves. So this, all of this, is really new to me," Akina sighed. Sakura was quiet for a bit, empathizing with her. "But, I'm here now, and I've seen many different things while journeying to Konoha.I'm not too bitter about it, since I've met some interesting characters." Sakura smiled at Akina. She smiled back.

The two girls walked in a comfortable silence for awhile, Sakura sometimes speaking up to tell Akina details about the scenery or the history of the Leaf Village. She told her about the people, the academy, what types of techniques they used. She also told Akina about the missions that she been on with Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto. The most recent mission being the one in the Land of Waves. They had to fight off a real bad guy named Zabuza. Akina gasped, "You fought with Zabuza, one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the Mist?!" 

"Yeah, we did! And we won too! It was great, cha!" Sakura punched the air with a victorious fist. Akina laughed. 

"That is pretty impressive. I guess you guys are extremely strong to be able to fight and win against Zabuza." Akina said. Sakura continued her story, talking about how tough it was, using her body to emphasize some of the scenes described. Akina held on to every word. 

As they both walked around, chatting, Akina suddenly noticed a small blonde boy arguing with another boy, his hair tied up in a spiky ponytail. Sakura noticed too. Rolling her eyes, she tugged on Akina's sleeve. "We should probably go before this gets any worse."she whispered to her. Akina glanced between Sakura and the two boys. 

"You know what, I think I'm going to say hi. Care to join me?" Akina asked Sakura. She shook her head, backing away slowly.

"I think I'm gonna go back to the flower shop and grab those flowers my mom wanted. Have a great rest of your day, Akina! Sakura said while walking back to the busy road. Akina watched her go, then turned to the two boys that were still arguing. She walked over to them, interrupting their squabble.

"Hi, Naruto, I saw you from a ways away. I thought I'd come see what you were doing." Akina stated. 

"AH, Akina! I-I didn't see you there!" Naruto stuttered out. Akina giggled. 

"Well, here I am. And who might you be?" she asked the other boy. He gazed from Naruto to Akina lazily. The young boy sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"The name is Shikamaru Nara." he said exasperatedly. Akina bowed politely to Shikamaru. 

"Nice to meet you, Shikamaru. My name is Akina Seto. I'm new here; just came in yesterday in fact." Akina stated as she came up from her bow. Shikamaru looked her up and down, observing the way she behaved, how polite she she was, even though she didn't knew who he was. He nodded his head back to her, his take on a bow. 

"You too." he said. A few seconds went by in silence. Akina was expecting for him to say more, but it seemed like he wasn't to say anything else. She shifted on her feet uncomfortably. Why does he keep staring at me..."Well, seeing as I'm no longer needed, I'm gonna go somewhere else and cloud watch. Catch you later, Naruto." Shikamaru said while he walked away. Akina tilted her head, confused by the way he said he was no longer needed. She looked to Naruto for an answer.

"What did he mean by 'no longer needed'?" She asked. Naruto avoided eye contact and shrugged tensely. 

"Oh-uuh, I don't know either. He can be pretty weird like that sometimes. But, what about you, what are you doing out here all alone. Especially since you literally just moved here." Naruto chuckled out. Akina could sense he was a little nervous for some reason. She clasped her hands together and fully faced Naruto. 

"I wasn't alone until a second ago. Sakura was taking me around town, then we saw you and Shikamaru and I wanted to come over and say hi. Though, Sakura didn't seem to like the idea, so she left to go do some errands." she explained. Naruto nodded lowering his head a little.

"I wonder if it's 'cause I was there.."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Hah, well, Sakura she--she doesn't like me." Naruto muttered out, rubbing his head. Akina frowned at that. Naruto seemed nice, though. Loud maybe, but he doesn't seem to be someone people should avoid, like how Sakura did. Or downright be mean to him. 

"I don't know if it means anything to you, but I don't think that. If anything, I would like to get to know you more." Akina consoled. Naruto looked at her, wide eyed. No one has ever said that to him. All he usually gets is glares or rude comments. Not someone who actually, legitimately wanted to get to know him. Akina placed a smile on her face and directed it towards Naruto, trying to make him understand that she was being sincere. 

Naruto looked into her red(blue? maybe purple?) eyes, seeing that she was being serious. He raised his hand to his heart clenching the fabric of his jacket tightly. His eyebrows scrunched up together, not understanding why his heart was beating so erratically. Akina stopped smiling and regarded Naruto's expression. He seemed to be in pain. "Naruto, are you okay? It looks like your in pain. Can you tell me where it hurts, maybe I can help." Akina examined. She brought one of her hands up to touch Naruto's hand, that was still clutching onto his jacket. But, just as she was about to make contact, with the speed of sound, Naruto took her hand with his other one, and squeezed tight. Akina looked toward Naruto's face, but was quite shocked to see that his eyes were blood red, and slitted, like a fox. 

Akina gasped slightly, the eyes surprising her. He was panting, sweat forming on his forehead. Akina didn't know what to do, but Naruto's hold on her hand was starting to seriously hurt her. She started to tremble slightly, starting to feel the fear. "Naruto, I really don't know what's going on, but I need you to calm down, okay?" Akina whispered to him, so he wouldn't be startled. 

In his fuzzy mind, he heard Akina's voice. He tried to calm his breathing, tries to come back to his senses. He could feel Akina's hand in his. He could feel when she brought up her other hand to his cheek, rubbing it, hoping that would do something for him. Surprisingly, it started to ground him. His breathing became less rapid, his eye color returning to the regular blue. When everything was back to normal, Naruto slumped down onto Akina's shoulder, suddenly exhausted by what had transpired. 

Akina took him by the shoulders and let his head land on hers. "Naruto, are you okay? What just happened?" she asked. Naruto shook head, not knowing either what had happened. 

"I don't know what happened. But, my head hurts now." Naruto murmured into her shoulder. Akina looked around to see if there was a bench or somewhere to sit comfortably. Luckily there was a bench nearby. Slowly, Akina moved Naruto to the bench, setting him down slowly, making sure to keep his head on her shoulder. Naruto groaned. Akina patted his head, hoping that would make him feel a little bit better. "Sorry, for this. And thank you." Naruto uttered. Akina chuckled.

"No, it's okay. I just hope that you feel better."

"The headache is feeling a lot better, so that's probably something." 

"Ahah, then that's good. Better than nothing." Akina patted his hand. Naruto laughed. After a few minutes, Naruto lifted his head up slowly, seeing if the pain was completely gone or not. Luckily, there was no pain. He peered over to Akina, to say thank you again, only to see she wasn't paying attention. She was looking up at the sky, watching the clouds pass by. The wind picked up slightly, tussling Akina's snow white hair. Naruto was entranced by the way it moved with the wind. 

Sensing that Naruto was staring, Akina looked over to him. "Do you feel better?" she questioned.Naruto's cheeks heated up slightly and he nodded. Akina beamed at him and patted his head. "Good." 

Naruto felt his heart clench again. He got up quickly, trying to get some between him and Akina. She looked up at him quizzically. He laughed it off. "H-hey, as a thank you for helping with whatever that was, I'll treat you to something really delicious for lunch!" 

"Oh really? What kind of delicious lunch?"

"Ramen! It's one of the best things in the entire world that has ever been created! It has different flavors, with different types of finishing touches! It's absolutely amazing! Let's go now!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. He grabbed Akina by the hands, and started to lead her to Ichiraku's. He held her hand tight as he dodged passerby. 

Suddenly, he stopped in front a small stall that said Ichiraku on some cloth that was hanging in front of the entrance. "Here we are! Ichiraku! The best place to get ramen!" Naruto announced. 

"Naruto. I'm glad you took me to a place you love so much, but is it okay if I get my hand back? It's getting kinda sweaty." Akina pointed to their intertwined hands. Naruto quickly let go and rubbed the sweat off on his pants.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"No problem. Now, let's see just how good this ramen is."

"It's gonna blow your mind, I swear!" Naruto grinned, letting Akina enter first. "Hey old man, two miso ramen bowls with extra pork and chasu!"

The sun was setting, making the sky pink, when the two finally decided to leave Ichiraku. Naruto looked into his now empty frog wallet, lamenting the loss of money, but not for too long. Akina had a great time with him in the stall. They both talked about their adventures. How Naruto would pull a bunch of pranks on the civilians of the village. Akina talked about the training she got from her teachers before the raid, and how her favorite pastime was too read scrolls on different and unique jutsus that people have forgotten. 

Once they thought it was a good time to leave, Naruto asked Akina he could walk her home. She delightfully accepted. "That would be great. I actually don't really know where I am going, so maybe you could help me." 

"I can totally help you! Where do you live now?"

"I live with Kakashi but--"

"WHAT!? WITH KAKASHI?!?!" Naruto yelled out. Akina flinched at his sudden rise in volume. 

"Yes. Lord Fourth suggested that I would live with him, since there were no more vacancies." Akina answered. 

"Oh wow, your life gets more interesting by the second, huh." Akina giggled at that.

"I can't seem to get away. But, do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah, I do. Sakura, Sasuke, and I followed there one time, trying to see his face under the mask."

"I can totally see you doing that." Akina chuckled out. Naruto smirked affectionately. 

Naruto and Akina took the liberty of making idle chit chat while Naruto showed her the way to Kakashi's apartment. Akina made sure she remembered the route well for future purposes.

When they finally got to the complex Kakashi lived in, Akina saw that the lights were on in the apartment. Probably indicating that Kakashi was back. She looked to Naruto. "Thank you for guiding me all the way here. I think I can handle the rest from here." Akina told Naruto. He nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. Akina considered Naruto for a moment before an idea came to her. She grinned and slowly crept up and took Naruto by the shoulders. Naruto was about to ask what she was doing,until she kissed him on the cheek quickly, directly onto one of his whiskers. "I'll see you tomorrow." Akina said lightly, then retreated to the apartment, leaving Naruto standing there befuddled.

She opened the door, noticing it was already unlocked. She saw Kakashi in the dining room, looking over some paperwork. "Hi Akina, I fixed up your room while you were out. I hope it is to your liking." Akina walked over to said room,and opened the door. It looked an ordinary room, no longer a makeshift office.

"It is. Thank you Kakashi, that was very nice of you. And quite quickly too." Akina sat in the other chair in front of Kakashi.

"I had some free time to clean it up and rearrange a bit."

"You should've come get me. I could've helped you."

"I thought it would be best to let you roam free for today, but I appreciate the thought. But, how was your day?" Kakashi asked. Akina looked out the window in thought, relaying the day in her head. She smiled, remembering how much fun she had with Naruto. 

"Simply amazing to say the least."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you liked this chapter! Please comment and kudo! I hope to see you next time!


	4. Seeing what you can do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this chapter! Please leave kudos and comment!! Thank you!!

“You want to come train with my team today?” 

Kakashi sipped his morning tea, waiting for Akina to answer. She stared at him blankly, not expecting him to ask her something like that. It had been a week and a half since she moved in with Kakashi. For the most part, Kakashi and Akina made a routine. Kakashi would wake up and make Akina breakfast before he had some work to attend to, and if he didn’t have any work, they would sometimes go into town and Kakashi would show Akina the famous sites of Konoha.

She set down her cup of water. “I would love to. I don’t want to become rusty, but are you sure? I don’t want to impose on you and your team’s time to train.” Akina responded back. Kakashi chuckled and shook his head. He took a big gulp of his tea, finishing it, then put the cup in the sink. Once done cleaning the cup and setting it on the drying rack, Kakashi dried his hands and turned to Akina. 

“I think it’ll be very beneficial for you and for the village. Seeing as you will be living here from now on, you are now a citizen of Konoha. And if you are a shinobi, why not?” Kakashi reasoned. Akina nodded, absorbing what he said. She smiled sheepishly and stood up from her chair, cleaning her cup once at the kitchen sink, like Kakashi. 

“You’re right. I am a shinobi, though I don’t have a headband to prove it. But, I do want to get stronger. So, Kakashi, I’ll take you up on your offer.” Akina said, jokingly putting her hand up in an offer to handshake. Kakashi took it anyway and shook her hand gently.

“Good. We’ll leave in about twenty minutes. Do what you need before then, and once you’re good to go, we’ll leave to go to one of Konoha’s training posts.” Kakashi explained. He then left to go into the bathroom. Akina set out to pack her pouch with kunai and shuriken and put it on her left thigh. Finished with her pouch, she grabbed two animal skin pouches from her satchel and filled them both with water. Once filled, Akina strapped the bags to her hips tightly, making sure that they didn’t fall off easily.

When Akina was sure she had everything she needed to train with. She sat down back down in the dining room and started to braid her hair. A long braid starting at the base of her neck all the way down to her tailbone. She finished her braid, but kept hold of her hair. White...Almost transparent...Like snow... 

A lot of people always whispered that behind her back. They always muttered about how different she was from everybody else in the Land of Waves. Nobody was as pale as her, or even had as white as hair as she did. Nobody even had her eyes, the way they would turn from blue to red, to sometimes purple in the right lighting. It’s the weirdest part about her, her eyes. The light always determines what the color they would be. Akina always hated them, never wanted to look at them in the mirror. It made her feel even more different than she already knew. People were cruel like that. 

Sighing, Akina dropped her braid and threw it over her shoulder so it laid against her back. She moved her bangs, making sure they were covering her eyes, but not enough to where she couldn’t see. Akina looked to the bathroom, hearing the door open. Kakashi came out, fully clothed and ready to go. She got up and waited for him to say something. “I see that you’re ready to go.” Akina nodded. 

“And you took long enough. What were you doing in there anyway? You were in there for ten minutes.” she complained. Kakashi chuckled.

“Just some personal business.” Akina nodded innocently, not really thinking much about it. That is until she saw a book with two people kissing on the cover. She watched as he put it in his pouch, trying to be inconspicuous. Akina averted her eyes, no longer that curious. “Okay, let’s get going before we're late, or Naruto and Sakura will have my head.”

When Akina and Kakashi jumped down to the trio, they were all sitting next to three wooden poles, looking bored. “Ahhh, jeez, Kakashi sensei, why are you always so late!” Naruto yelled out when he saw Kakashi. None of them saw Akina yet, until she walked out from behind him. Naruto stopped his complaints mid sentence upon seeing her. “Akina! What are you doing here?” he asked, astounded. She giggled at his antics. 

“Hi Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. It’s good to see you all again.” Akina said, bowing slightly. 

“Hi, Akina!” Sakura chirped out, going over and holding onto her hands. “But, what are you doing here?” she asked, just as curious as Naruto. Akina pointed behind her to Kakashi, who was relaxing on one of the wooden posts. 

“Kakashi asked me if I wanted to train with you guys, and I said yes.” she explained. Sakura and Naruto blinked.

“Oh that’s cool! I’m so down for that! What are we gonna do, Kakashi sensei?! Ninjutsu, Taijustsu, or Genjutsu?! Or maybe we’re gonna take on someone really strong and--”

“Woah there, Naruto, calm down, before you get ahead of yourself.” Kakashi warned, taking a hold of Naruto’s head, so he didn’t spiral out of control. “Today, you guys are going to be fighting each other. And the reason being is to get to know each other’s moves and tricks, so when we go on more missions together, you’ll be more prepared for what’s to come.” Kakashi clarified. Sasuke huffed out a laugh after he was done. 

“Great, more losers to deal with.” he said under his breath, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. Akina looked over from Sakura to Sasuke and pursed her lips rigidly. To Akina, this Sasuke character has a very bristlely personality, and just downright mean. Sasuke glanced over to Akina and tch’ed before looking back at the water behind the wooden posts. Akina furrowed her eyebrows, frustration bubbling up inside her chest. She looked over to Kakashi, who was still holding onto Naruto. 

“Kakashi.” she called over. He gazed at her with bored eyes. “Since you said that we will be fighting each other, I want to take on Sasuke over there. To keep him in his place.” Akina said haughtily, putting her hands on her hips. Akina didn’t like him one bit, and if beating him in a friendly match will put him down a few notches, then so be it. 

“Put me in my place, huh? Yeah whatever, says the one who just came here out of nowhere, and can probably barely defend themselves. If you think you can win, why not. It might be fun.” Sasuke said. He got up, his hands in his pockets, and glared over to Akina. She glared right back, tightening her hands into fists.

Naruto growled and was about to knock down Sasuke for being so mean to Akina, but Kakashi still had his hold on him. “Sure, go ahead.” Kakashi said to both of them. Akina nodded in acknowledgement and looked back to Sasuke. He was already in position, waiting for her. 

Akina patted Sakura on the shoulder, noticing the worried expression on her face. She walked over, and stood in front of Sasuke, about six feet away, waiting for him to do something. After a bit of them both just standing there, Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. “Are you just gonna stand there or do you want me to make the first move?” he asked. Akina shrugged, antagonizing Sasuke. “Fine, it’s your funeral.” he muttered. 

Sasuke took a kunai out of his pouch and started to run toward Akina. She watched him, waiting for him to strike. Widening her eyes, she dodged his strike with the kunai. He went for her stomach, thinking of kicking her there, but she dodged that too. She backflipped to gain some space away from him. Sasuke gritted his teeth, running towards Akina again. But, she dodged swiftly, bending down and kicking his feet off the ground, causing him to trip. She grinned. 

Sasuke quickly got up. He noticed that her hands were behind her back. She was grinning, looking down on him. He didn’t like that one bit. Sasuke took his hands and did some signs for his fire jutsu. He took two fingers and sucked in, then blew out a big fireball in Akina’s direction. 

Akina’s eyes widened and she gasped. She didn’t have enough water in her bags to take the fire out and protect herself. Suddenly, she remembered the body of water behind the wooden posts. Placing her feet securely on the ground, she whipped her hands around quickly. The water responded by causing a wave in front of the fireball, consuming it. 

Everyone watched in awe as the wave of water dissipated the fireball, and landed on the ground, making the earth muddy. Akina relaxed and saw the look of disbelief on Sasuke’s face. “Did you just-make a wave of water without any signs?” he asked. Akina put her index finger to her lip. 

“I guess that’s what I did. I’m not really sure about the details myself but,” Akina lifted her hands, spreading her fingers. She made a pulsing move, going up and down, and the water started to come up from the ground in a little bubbles, surrounding Akina. “It’s kinda cool, huh.” With that, she clenched her hands tightly, causing the water to turn into ice, long and sharp. She opened her hands and flipped them her palms upwards and aimed them at Sasuke, who was still in shock. She smirked and shot the ice towards him with lightning speed.

Akina made sure not to seriously hurt him, but she did stab his clothing to the ground, incapacitating him. But his body turned into smoke and what was left was a log. Akina clicked her tongue, substitution jutsu..

Akina looked around, feeling her surroundings, but still unable to feel where Sasuke was. Until it was too late. Out of nowhere Sasuke was behind her, kicking her squaring in the back, hard enough to throw her a few feet forward. She angled herself, making sure she landed on her hands and feet, unfortunately scratching them up a little. Akina coughed out, the kick being quite painful. She glared to Sasuke, who smirked, a hint of something dark in his eyes. Akina couldn't quite pin down what the emotion was in his eyes, but it wasn’t anything she wanted to associate with.

A shiver of slight fear ran up Akina’s spine as Sasuke walked near her, taunting her. “What, done already? And here I thought this was gonna be more fun.” he complained, crossing his arms over his chest. Akina clenched her teeth, growing mad, his taunts working wonders. She couldn’t let him win, especially with that arrogant attitude of his. 

Akina glanced at the water again, then back to Sasuke. She didn’t want to, but she needed something big to distract him. Or maybe something small, unnoticeable to subdue him. There were endless possibilities, but Akina couldn’t decide which one could be the most effective to win against Sasuke.

As she was contemplating, Sasuke ran up and kicked her in the chin, throwing her head back, and causing her nose to start bleeding. Her head hit the ground in a painful thud, causing Akina to momentarily black out. She heard someone yell out her name; it sounded like Naruto, but she couldn’t be sure. She felt someone standing above her suddenly. As her vision got clearer, Akina saw that it was Sasuke, grinning down at her.

She didn’t want to admit it, but him grinning down at her then, infuriated her. It was like he was saying he didn't see her as a true shinobi. Like he didn’t think of anything other than just a wimpy civilian. Like she was inferior. Different. Useless.

With a rush of adrenaline and fury so great that no one could quell, Akina took Sasuke by the collar of his shirt and head butted him. He groaned in pain and staggered back. Akina took her chance then. 

She got up quickly; widening her stance, she put her hands to her chest, clenching her fists, and putting them up above her head. The water behind her rippled and a huge pillar came out of it. She shifted her right foot slightly to the left, shooting her hands toward Sasuke, causing the water to wash over him.

Like a tsunami, it took Sasuke off his feet, drowning him and pushing him to a nearby tree. When Sasuke’s back hit the tree from the water, Akina crunched her fingers, causing the water to freeze. With Sasuke in the middle. 

Panting, Akina dropped her hands, slumping her shoulders. She walked over to Sasuke, until she was face to face with him. She saw him struggling to back loose of the ice. He couldn’t do anything, with the way he was stuck. His hands far apart, and his body completely submerged in the ice. 

Akina slammed her hand next to his head, barely missing his ear. She scowled at him through her bangs, her lips compressed in a tight frown. She inched closer until their noses were practically touching and whispered, “If you ever, ever, look at me like that again, I will not hold back. I will obliterate you.” she leaned back and took a deep breath, straightening her clothes and hair. She walked over to where Kakashi and the two genin were. Their faces omitted pure shock, disbelieving of what they just witnessed. 

Akina huffed as she slid down one of the wooden posts tiredly. It seemed she used too much chakra on that last move. She’ll probably have to meditate more, to expand how much chakra she can withhold in her body before getting tired. 

She felt a presence slowly inch toward hers. Akina saw that Naruto knelt beside her, inspecting her body to see if he could find any life threatening wounds. She giggled slightly when she realized what he was doing. She took her hand and patted Naruto’s head gently, causing him to gaze into her affectionate eyes. “I’m fine Naruto, no big injuries. I’m just tired from using too much chakra.” she voiced out, through her bruised abdomen. Naruto looked concerned, but didn’t say anything. He scooted closer to her and settled next to her. Naruto just wanted to be there for her in case anything bad happened.

Kakashi stared at Naruto, and how quiet he was being. It amazed him really; given in any situation, Naruto was the most vocal. But with Akina, it’s like her presence calmed him down. It seemed like she brought him peace of mind when he was around her. It really saved his eardrums, but at the same time, it was odd, how silent he was.

But with that, Kakashi didn’t know just how strong Akina was. He didn’t even know what kind of jutsu she was doing. It was something he’s never seen before. It was like she was manipulating the water to her will, not necessarily using a jutsu; like the skill was a part of her. It was amazing. But so unknown to him.

He looked over to Sasuke, who was still frozen in the ice, still struggling to get out. He seemed pissed at losing to Akina, his eyes alight with rage. “Hey, Akina, could you, uh, maybe release Sasuke from the ice?” Kakashi asked. Akina looked between Sasuke and Kakashi, then sighed. She raised her left hand and gracefully whipped it down, causing the ice to turn into water once again. From the ground, she weaved her hands, telling the water to go back into the larger body of water behind them. Once done, she slumped in exhaustion, her head landing on Naruto’s shoulder.

Sasuke fell to the ground, taking heavy breaths. He glowered at Akina, who didn’t take notice. He slowly got up, and went as far away as he could from Akina, but close enough to still observe the next match. Kakashi chuckled nervously. 

“Well, who’s next?”


	5. What you want

It was a little after noon when Kakashi decided that it would be a good time to take a break. All five ninja sat in a circle, all eating homemade rice balls that Sakura decided to make them and each rice ball had a different type of meat inside. Akina had chicken in hers, making it one of the best rice balls she had ever had. To show her appreciation, Akina patted Sakura on her shoulder, and nodded in approval, “These are delicious, Sakura. Thank you for making them.” 

“Yeah Sakura! These are great!” Naruto chimed in, scarfing down his rice ball quickly. It soon vanished, and when Naruto realized it was gone, he went in for another one. Sakura slapped his hand and shook her head.

“Naruto! There’s two rice balls for each person! And you already ate both of yours! These ones are for Sasuke,” Sakura leaned over towards the other end of the circle and put the remaining two rice balls in front of him. “I hope you like them, Sasuke.” she said to him, looking hopeful. She watched as Sasuke took one of the rice balls and slowly ate it in silence. Once done, he nodded and shrugged, indicating that they were fine. Akina watched as Sakura melted into a pile of figurative goop. She chuckled slightly and shook her head at Sakura's obvious display of affection towards Sasuke. 

“Hey! What about me?! I said that your rice balls were good! He didn’t even have to say anything!” Naruto exclaimed. Sakura glared at him, hard. 

“Hush! I already heard you loud and clear!” she shouted back. Akina watched as the two argued, clearly seeing the hurt that Naruto felt, and was trying to hide it by arguing with Sakura. She sighed feeling empathetic towards him. Hopefully Sakura will see Naruto as a true friend. Sooner rather than later. 

She glanced over to Kakashi and Sasuke’s side of the circle. Kakashi was languidly eating one of his rice balls and reading, while Sasuke was staring back at Akina. His eyes were of the darkest black she had ever seen someone’s eyes to be. They held anger and sadness. They held too much pain for someone so young. Akina might not like how he acts towards other people, but she did feel a bit of pity for him. She didn’t know what he had gone through before she got to Konoha, but even she can tell that it really impacted him in a negative way. 

Akina didn’t want to do this. She really didn’t. She doesn’t like Sasuke, and how he acts, and how he most likely belittles, and how he most likely says mean things to a lot of people, just to be mean. But when she looks into those eyes, she see profound loneliness. She relates to him on that level. So, she gets up, avoids Naruto’s swinging hands and goes towards Sasuke.

He watches her like a hawk, not knowing what she is doing. Akina squats down in front of him, and he glares harder, trying to tell her to leave. But, instead she sticks her hand out and says, “I know that weren’t on the best of terms, but I don’t want any bad blood between us. I want us to be civil.” Sasuke looks down to her outstretched hand, and back up to Akina’s reddish ones. He doesn’t move for a second, thinking it’s a trick to drown him in water again. But, nothing happened and all he saw was sincerity.

He hesitantly raised his hand and shook hers, causing Akina to smile slightly. She was the first to let go of the handshake, and decided to sit next to Sasuke, thinking it would be good to get to know him. Sasuke eyed her wearily as she sat down, not sure what to make of this. “What do you want exactly?” he asked her. She looked over to him for a moment, then went back to watching Naruto and Sakura.

“I don’t want anything really. Well, maybe some new clothes that are more comfortable for fighting. Or maybe some new shoes--”

“What do you want from  _ me _ ? I insult you and say that I’m better than you, and yet here you are, trying to befriend me.” Sasuke questions. 

“Don’t get it twisted, Sasuke, I don’t want to be friends with you. At least, not yet. But, I feel like you are carrying a lot of hate, and a lot of pain. And the last thing someone needs, when they feel like that, is to be alone. Even if they are pushing people away. Even if they are doing it themselves.” Akina states calmly. She looked Sasuke directly in the eye, when finished. 

Sasuke didn’t have any words to say, he was utterly speechless. For someone he just a week and a half ago to analyse and dissect him so easily like that. It angered him. Sasuke’s eyebrows furrowed together in irritation. He pulled his knees up and looked in the other direction, done with where this conversation was going. Akina was about to say more when Kakashi interrupted, “Okay, it seems that everybody has eaten and ready to continue training! Next we’re gonna learn Taijutsu. Now we are going to dive deeper into the very roots of Taijutsu--”

  
  
  
  
  


It was around four in the afternoon when Kakashi decided to end today’s lesson. They were walking back to the main of the village when he suddenly stopped them. “I have something for all of you .”  he handed all four of them a slip of paper. Akina read that it is an application of sorts for the Chuunin exams. She looked back to Kakashi in confusion.

“Chuunin exams?”

“Yes. The Chuunin exams, are a set of tests that determine if you can become the next level up from Genin, which would be Chuunin.” Kakashi explained. Naruto whooped in excitement. Akina tilted her head in thought. She remembered a few ninja in her old town talking about how you needed a team of three to participate, not four. Would four be allowed, or would she be teamed up with two complete strangers? To begin with, is she even allowed to participate?

She decided she’ll talk to Kakashi once they both get home. 

Once Naruto calmed down, they went their separate ways. Akina and Kakashi walked silently, until they reached their apartment. Akina slid her shoes off after Kakashi and followed him to the kitchen. “Kakashi, about the exams. I thought only a three man team was allowed to participate. To make it even, or something along those lines.” Akina said. Kakashi nodded in acknowledgement. 

“Something like that. But I talked with the Hokage about it, and he agreed that you should do it, too. Do you know what happens in the exams?”

“I overheard some ninja from the Hidden Mist village when they were passing through my town a long time ago, chatting about the exams. I remember them saying there are three parts to it. A written portion, a survival portion, and then tournament type of thing at the end. Is that right?” Akina asked. 

“Yeah, for the most part. The Hokage said that you are allowed to participate as long as you don’t fight in the first two parts of the exam, and if you and your team pass the second part then you are allowed to fight.” Akina looked at him in confusion. 

“If I didn’t fight, wouldn’t that be cheating?”

“No, you’ll be defending and healing. As long as you don’t engage, you’ll be fine, until the third part of the exam.”

“But why only the first two parts?”

“That, I can’t tell you. It would spoil the fun. Besides, there is another team coming in from the Hidden Sand village that have four people so if they pass, it’ll all be okay.” Kakashi said, now sitting at the dining room table. Akina sat in front of him. 

“Well, okay I guess. But how do you know they’ll pass. What if they don’t?” Kakashi chuckled at Akina’s continuous string of questions. 

“Don’t worry, alright? Just be happy you’ll be getting the chance to become an even greater shinobi.” Akina pouted slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. Kakashi laughed and patted her on the head as he got up. “I’m going to be in my room for awhile, to look over some documents. If you need me for anything, just knock.” Kakashi said, and walked over to his room, closing the door behind him.

  
  
  


Akina was quietly drying her hair from the shower she decided to take when she heard a knock at the door. She announced to Kakashi that she’d get it, and not to come out. Upon opening the door, her eyes widened a little in mild surprise. She smiled and walked out a bit. “Hi Naruto. What can I do for you?” 

Naruto had a big grin on his face, his hands behind his head. “Hey! I was just thinking that we could train some more since there is still daylight out.” Naruto said. Akina smiled in thought. She could really use the practice to maintain her control on water, maybe work on the healing properties of water. Akina turned around, back into the apartment and quickly put her shoes on, then returned to where Naruto was.

“Lead the way.”

  
  
  
  


Naruto took her to a lake near the outskirts of town; Akina had asked him to take her to a place where there was a good amount of water to practice with. They both went down to the edge of the water, near the boardwalk. “This seems like the best place for me to practice, but what about you, Naruto? What are you going to practice?” Akina asked. Naruto put his hand on his chin in thought.

“I’ll probably work on my Taijutsu or something. I mostly wanted to come out and hang with you. Maybe watch you practice. I’ve never seen anything like what you can do, so I’m really curious!” Naruto exclaimed. Akina giggled and patted Naruto on the head, trying to calm him down a little. He instantly dropped his shoulders and drooped his head slightly, so Akina could cover more area. “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Keep doing what?”

“You keep patting my head, like I’m some kid!” Naruto squawked. Akina chuckled and put her hand down from his head. 

“Maybe it’s because I do see you as a kid. After all, I think I  _ am _ older than you.”

“Huh?! You’re only a year older than me! Doesn’t mean you should treat me like a kid!”

“Okay Okay, if you don’t like it so much I’ll stop.” Akina reasoned with him. Naruto glared and stepped closer to her.

“I didn’t say that I didn’t like--AH!” Naruto shouted. With the step he took, trying to get closer to Akina, it accidentally caused him to slip on wet grass, and with a huge splash, also hitting Akina, Naruto fell into the lake that was beside them. Naruto popped up from underwater, spitting some of it out his mouth. Akina laughed heartily, clenching her stomach, her sides aching. 

“I can’t believe you just slipped like that! I’ve never seen anybody do that!” She chortled. Naruto glared and blew bubbles of frustration with his nose.

“It’s not that funny!” Naruto defended, swimming to the ledge and pulling himself out. “Great, now I’m all soaking wet.” Akina wiped a tear, sobering up from her laughing fit. She noticed that she was pretty wet too. 

“Here, let me help.” Akina motioned her hands in front of herself, circling them towards Naruto, causing the water to pull out of the material, making his clothes dry once again. She directed the water back into the lake, then did herself, making them both dry. Naruto was once again stunned by her abilities to just manipulate water the way she does. He looked up to her in wonder. 

“How do you do that? Seriously, how? I keep seeing it, and each time I see it, it amazes me.” Naruto told her, with wonderment in his voice. Akina shrugged, pink dusting her cheeks. She crouched down, and started to play with the water in front of her. Little bubbles of water started to surface, dancing around in the air. Naruto sat close beside her, watching her make the bubbles and making them dance. 

“Like I keep telling everyone who asks, I really don’t know how I do it. I’ve tried asking the elders when I was living with them, but they never really answered my questions. They always said, ‘know that in due time, I will soon know the truth,’ whatever that means.” Naruto stayed silent as she spoke, hanging on to every word. “All they really said about it was that it wasn’t really jutsu. That it came from the moon. It was something else entirely, nothing no one has ever seen. They also said that, if I truly believe, I can manipulate other elements. Such as the earth, or air, or maybe even fire.” Akin dropped her hand, the bubbles splashing back into the body of water. Noticing Naruto being unusually quiet, she glanced over to him staring at the lake, his eyes glistening from the reflection of the sunlight on the water. His brows strewed together in thought. He then looked at her.

“Do you really need to know?” he asked. Akina gazed in confusion.

“What do you mean, ‘do I need to know’? I think I at least should know the origins of my powers to have a better understanding, and master it.”

“Yeah yeah I get that, but do you need to know at this very minute? Look, all I’m saying is--yeah--maybe in the future, but for now, I think you should just have fun with it, and maybe, eventually you’ll figure it out all on your own.” Naruto stated. Akina’s eyes widened a fraction, never knowing a knucklehead like Naruto can get so philosophical. Thinking about what he said, Akina gently nudged him with her shoulder, smiling gently. 

“I never knew you could be so wise,” Naruto opened his mouth to retaliate, but Akina continued, “Thank you. I think I really needed that. And you’re right, I shouldn’t stress over the logistics. At least, not yet.” Naruto smirked, falling backward to fully lay in the grass.

“What are friends for?” he said, rhetorically. Akina smiled with mirth this time, the word  _ friend _ causing her chest to feel warm.

“Yeah, friends.” Akina whispered to herself. The two stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. But unbeknownst to them, there was a figure up the hill, watching them interact. His lips were downturned in a frown, and with a click of his tongue, he turned around and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I know, it is a little slow, but I promise that it will get interesting! Please bear with me okay! And please kudo, comment, and tell people about it! I appreciate all who read this adventure of mine! And please stay safe out there!


	6. Meeting new friends

Ever since then, Naruto and Akina would spend time with each other after training or missions. Akina would wait when Team 7 was done with any mission they were on, then hang out with Naruto if he asked. Sometimes Sakura would come along. And sometimes Sasuke would be there too, though it took a lot of persuasion from Sakura to even remotely get him to budge.

Sasuke actually started to warm up to Akina, in an odd Uchiha way. From an outsider’s perspective, it seemed like Sasuke didn’t like Akina, and would constantly glare at her. But, Akina knew better. He was just awkward, and socially distant, but deep down, Akina knew that Sasuke didn’t want to be alone. He wanted friends just as much as any other kid would, he was just really bad at expressing it. Akina knew there was something holding him back, not just his social awkwardness, but she didn’t want to pry, so she never asked. 

Sakura and her have also gotten closer to each other. They would meet up and talk about anything and everything. And by anything and everything, it was mostly Sakura talking about Sasuke, or complaining about how he never listens to her, or how he never hangs out with her unless Akina and Naruto were there also. It was never just the two of them. Akina didn’t like her complaining at all. In fact, it annoyed her to no end, but she knew that Sakura didn’t really have anybody else to talk about Sasuke with. Akina met Ino, but it seemed like Sakura and her were at odds when it came to Sasuke. So Akina sucked it up, and tried to listen to her as much as she could.

Then there was Naruto. Over the past week, after Kakashi gave them the application for the Chuunin Exams, Akina and Naruto would go off on their own and either practice with each other, or just play around near the park or the lake. Akina considered Naruto one of her closest friends compared to Sasuke and Sakura. There was something about Naruto that made her giddy with happiness. And when he smiled, it made her want to smile along with him; it was like he himself was contagious, but Akina didn’t mind it one bit. She loved how bubbly and bright he was. She loved how mischievous he could be when he was playing with the younger kids, such as Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.

Akina remembered when she met Konohamaru. She was waiting for Naruto at a crossroads to train with him, but Konohamaru was about to attack him from behind. Akina yelled out to warn Naruto, who didn’t move out of the way in time, and got pummeled by an eight year old. Naruto was peeved to say the least, and Akina was quite amused. She introduced herself to Konohamaru, who in turn became red like a cherry and ran away, tripping on his scarf in the process. It was a fun memory Akina liked to reminiscence about.

  
  


And today was like any of those other days. She was waiting for Naruto near the lake, which she deemed to be her and Naruto’s “spot,” where they would do a lot of their training. She was sitting at the edge of the pier, swaying her feet, her toes almost touching the water. The sun was bright and beating down her exposed shoulders, causing them to heat up a bit. She manipulated the water below her and splashed some of it onto her shoulders to make them cooler. Akina looked up to the sky, a cloud barely in sight. 

Today was a little too hot to do any real training, but she wanted to do something with Naruto. Maybe practice the shadow clone jutsu, she was pretty bad at it still. Or maybe learn new strategies with him, even though Naruto isn’t the best at those. She sighed in exasperation, her thoughts starting to become a little warped. Maybe she shouldn’t have invited him to spend time with her today. They’ve been in each other’s presence far too much in this last week, and she didn’t want him to get tired of her. If there was anything in the world she would hate most right now, it would be if Naruto ever came to hate her.

_ Naruto is an amazing person, I don’t think he would ever hate me,  _ Akina tried to reason. For the past few days, Akina has been fighting with herself to give Naruto space or be around him constantly. Now that she knew what a real friend feels like to have around, she  _ really _ didn’t want to give it up. But she also didn’t want to be a nuisance to him. “Agh, why does this have to be so weirdly complicated!” Akina exclaimed, flopping backward to lay on the pier, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t be blinded by the sun.

A few minutes pass with Akina just basking in the daylight, trying not to overthink the complexities of friendship, until a shadow blocks the sun from her face. “Whatcha doing, sleeping in the sun like that? You’re gonna get burned, ya know!” 

Akina smiled, instantly knowing who it was. She blinked her eyes open and looked up to Naruto, who was crouching above her, his face close to hers. Lifting her hand up, she patted his head and giggled. “How kind of you to be so caring.” Akina said. Naruto harrumphed in embarrassment and moved away from Akina’s hand. 

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Get burned for all I care!”

“Oh really? Maybe I will. Maybe I’ll get burned so much that I’ll become a tomato, and become better friends with Sasuke than you.” Akina teased, an amusing lilt to her voice. Naruto glared at her and stomped beside her head, causing her to quickly sit up so her head wouldn't be smashed.

“Sasuke is the worst, especially to Sakura! You shouldn’t go anywhere near him!” Naruto exclaimed. Akina chuckled, finally standing up.

“But Naruto, I thought you didn’t care what happened to me.” this caught Naruto off guard. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out, but his cheeks were slowly turning pink. Naruto rapidly turned around, so that his back was to Akina, since he didn’t want her to see how embarrassed he was. “Aw, Naruto, I didn’t mean to tease that much, I’m sorry.”

“You should be!” Naruto said, lifting his jacket over his head to hide his face. She went around and tried to peek through the jacket. 

“Naruto, I really am sorry. I promise I won’t tease you anymore.” Akina persuaded, still trying to get him to bring his jacket away from his face. 

“Really?” he muttered through the fabric. Akina nodded and crossed her heart. Naruto smirked and dropped his jacket, exposing his face. “Hah! Now, I can tease you all I want, and you can't do anything about it!” Naruto yelled, then started to run towards the hill. Akina gawked and watched as he ran away. Recovering herself, she chuckled. 

“I can’t believe he just played me like that, how rude. Naruto! Come back here, you little weasel!” she shouted, running after him. 

  
  
  


Akina thought she lost him, but after fifteen minutes of searching, she finally saw his blonde spiky hair rounding a corner. She quickly dodged some villagers and made her way to him, only to see him getting punched in the face by Sakura, then her walking away. She also noticed Konohamaru and his two friends, seeing that they also got hit on the head, but not as bad as Naruto. She walked over to Konohamaru, helping him stand up. “What happened here? Why are all you beaten up like this?” she asked.

“That fivehead just hit us for no reason!” Konohamaru yelled out, enough so, that Sakura heard him. Hearing Konohamaru call her a fivehead, she stopped mid step and slowly turned around, and started to run towards them, cracking her knuckles. Konohamaru screamed in fright and started running followed by Naruto, Udon, and Moegi. Sakura passed Akina, her face contorted in anger, and Akina knew they were going to get it.

She followed after Sakura, hoping to calm her down and not hurt the kids anymore, but what she saw wasn’t what she expected. Konohamaru was on the ground looking up to a boy with purple paint on his face and what seemed like a mummy tied to his back. Behind him was a girl, her hair tied in four ponytails and a big fan strapped to her back. 

The boy looked down angrily at Konohamaru then proceeded to pick him up roughly by the scarf. “Kankuro, put him down, or you know you’ll pay for it later.” the girl with the fan said to the one that was dubbed as Kankuro. He smirked back at her.

“We have a few minutes before he comes back, we might as well rough ‘em up a little.” he replied back. Akina put herself between the two strangers and the kids, plus Naruto and Sakura. 

“I think it’d be in your best interest to let that boy go.” Akina said confidently, stealthily controlling the water that was in her pouches on her hips. She was going to use this water to train, but she might as well use it now.

Kankuro grinned maliciously, tightening his hold on Konohamaru, making him choke more. “And what are you going to do about it?” Akina pursed her lips and quickly contorted her water into a whip, and sending it to hit Kankuro’s hand, so he would let go of Konohamaru. But before she could make contact, a rock hit him instead, causing him to let go of the smaller boy. Realizing her water wasn’t needed anymore, Akina hurriedly put it away, and looked up to see Sasuke in the tree beside them. He was casually playing with a pebble, glaring down at Kankuro, and Akina deduced that Sasuke was the one who threw the rock.

Sakura yelped in glee when she saw Sasuke and Akina rolled her eyes;  _ Always such a show off, _ she thought. “You’re a long way from home, and way out of your league,” Sasuke then crushed the rock that he was playing with, turning it into dust, “get lost.” he finished, letting the dust blow away into the wind. Akina could hear Konohamaru yell at Naruto behind her about not being as cool as Sasuke, which she thought was ridiculous. But nonetheless she appreciated him intervening when he did.

In an angered growl, Kankuro suddenly took the mummy off of his back, slamming it beside him and letting the wrap fall off. “Are you going to use the Crow for this, Kankuro?!” the girl behind shouted out, surprised. Akina goes into a more defensive stance, ready to defend the people behind her if need be.

But, before things could escalate even further, a voice called out, “Kanakuro, enough. You’re being an embarrassment to our village.” Everyone looked up to see a figure on the other side of the tree, standing upside down. There was sand swirling around him, his mint color eyes had black around them, and there was a tattoo on his forehead that seemed like it was the character for love. His body language was relaxed, but Akina could sense a heavy amount of killing intent, and it made her shiver in fear. Even worse is that no one sensed him, he quite literally came out of nowhere.

“A-ah, uh, hey Gaara, it isn’t what it really looks like, they’re the ones that started it--”

“Shut up, or I’ll kill you.” the one named Gaara said, instantly silencing Kankuro, glaring at him with such extreme, it made Akina step back unconsciously, causing her to hit her back against someone. Looking back, she found she accidentally pushed into Naruto, who seemed to be just as scared as she was. She felt him grab her arms and squeeze, Akina suspected it was to keep him grounded and not give into the crawling fear he was feeling just as much as she was. She saw Naruto wasn’t even looking at her, but at the redhead, his eyes wide, and Akina took one of her hands and gently squeezed one of his in reassurance. “I’m sorry for any trouble he caused,” the shorter boy looked back to Sasuke, sizing him up, then turned to face his back to the leaf shinobi. “Let’s go. We’re not here to play games.” he commanded.

“Wait!” Sakura called out, “Judging by the headbands you guys are wearing, you come from the Village Hidden in the Sand, right? If so, what are you doing here? I know that the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire are allies, but you still need permission to come into another’s village. So, what is your purpose, huh?” Sakura asked, suspicious of their presence. Akina wondered the same thing, until it hit her. Sand village shinobi....Like what Kakashi said.

“You guys are here for the Chuunin Exams, aren’t you?” she questioned. They weren’t for another few days. But if she heard Kakashi correctly, these would be the Sand shinobi he was talking about, but there were supposed to be four of them, so where was the fourth one?

“Temari, Gaara, Kankuro!” a voice called out, sounding peeved. The three whipped their heads to find a girl at the end of the alley. She was as tall as the Temari girl, it seemed, but her skin was like the color of toffee. Her hair black, wild and curly, framing her face perfectly. Her eyes spark a contrast from her skin, being a light orange, almost pastel. One could definitely see she was muscular, and trained almost daily. Akina had to admit, she was gorgeous to say the least. And she looked native of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Interesting to see her with people from the Hidden Sand Village.

The girl stomped over to the trio, placing her hands on her hips. “Jeez, where have you guys been! Baki sent me to find you all, he wants to have a meeting about the Exams.” she said to them, not noticing the crowd.

“Uh, Yua, we’re kind of in the middle of something.” Kankuro murmured to her, pointing to the Leaf ninja behind him. She looked over, and bowed quickly, ashamed that she interrupted whatever it was they were doing. 

“I’m so sorry for interrupting, I didn’t mean to, but I really have to get these kids back to our hotel!”

“Hey, who’re you calling kids! I am literally older than you!” Kankuro yelled at her, putting his fist up.

“Oh shut up, Kankuro! You were probably antagonizing them first, you big bully!” Yua countered, getting up in his face. “If you wanna duke it out, I’ll play along, but not here! We have business to attend to!” Yua then pushed Kankuro towards the direction of the hotel, then bobbed her head to Temari, wanting her to follow. They both easily did, but Gaara on the other hand wasn’t budging. Yua gently walked up to Gaara, and slowly took a hold of his hand. “Come on, Gaara, before we all get into trouble.” Yua pulled Gaara with little resistance from him, to Akina’s surprise. If anything, he seemed more docile towards her. For someone who looked so murderous, he seemed pretty timid with this girl named Yua.

Before she rounded the corner to go onto the main street, she bowed to all of them, still holding onto Gaara’s hand. “Nice to meet all of you, and I hope we can see each other again in a less tense environment!” she shouted, before disappearing into the crowd with Gaara in tow. 

“What--just happened?” Sakura asked, her voice soft, fear still lingering in it. Akina made Naruto let go of her, straightening her back, to get the lingering fear out of her system. Naruto stood closely beside her, glaring at the direction that the four left to.

“I don’t know, but I’m pissed now.” Naruto said through clenched teeth. Akina could see the anger in his blue eyes, maybe from the fact that he got easily scared or maybe because of Sasuke showing him up, she didn’t really know.

Sasuke dropped down from the tree smoothly, putting his hands in his pockets when he landed. “Whoever they are, let’s hope they don’t cause any trouble.” with that, Sasuke walked away from the scene. Sakura decided to follow him, calling out for him to wait for her.

Akina looked to the three kids, who were still frozen in their place. She crouched down to their level and said, “I think it’s time for you all to go home, yeah?” the kids all nodded. They started to melt from their frozen spots, then started to walk away too. Akina got up slowly, and let out a huge sigh. She looked to Naruto, who still had an angered expression, his eyebrows scrunched up together, his lips curled into a snarl. Walking up to him, she put her hand on his arm forearm, trying to get him to look at her. “Hey, I have a great idea! Let’s go get some ramen. I’ll even pay this time with the money Kakashi gave me.” 

Naruto instantly turned to her with a huge smile on his face. He grabbed her hand that was on his arm and started running to Ichiraku’s, “That’s the best idea you’ve had all day!”

  
  
  
  
  


The night air was cool, the moon was full and bright in the starry sky. Yua was sitting on the rooftop of the hotel they were staying at, counting the stars in the sky. The weather was nothing like the weather in her village. It was all hot and sandy, and bright...And sandy. So much sand. Too much sand. Sand was stupid and invasive, it was literally everywhere. In her clothes, in her shoes, in her hair. Yua can still feel some left over sand from when they trekked from their village to here, and she thought she got it all out.

But Konoha, it was completely different. It had trees as far as the eye could see. The air was clean and breathable, unlike in the desert, where one could literally choke on it. The people of the village were also quite nice to visitors from other lands, and the shinobi were skilled in their own right. Yua loved it here, she really did. So much in fact, she is going to dread for what’s to come.

She touched a bracelet on her right wrist, it’s purple jewel shining in the moonlight, making it seem like there was a tiny world inside of it. She remembered she was given this bracelet as a gift, she just couldn’t remember  _ who _ gave it to her, but everytime she looked at it, her heart ached in a soft, dull pain. It’s like her body remembers, but her mind didn’t, which was frustrating for her.

Losing herself in her thoughts, she didn’t notice a boy walk up behind her, that is until sand was shot towards her. She easily dodged it, jumping behind the culprit and putting a kunai to the perpetrator’s throat. Realizing who it was, she huffed and put her kunai back to where it was being held. “What are you doing here, Gaara? I thought you were off somewhere in the village, doing reconnaissance or something.” Yua asked, quizzically. Gaara stared at her, but didn’t say a word until he sat down.

“I was coming back, and saw you here, alone.” Gaara slowly answered. Yua almost didn’t hear him, he was being so quiet. She nodded to herself, also sitting again, this time putting a little space between her and Gaara, making sure not to spook him. She knew how dangerous, and how unstable he is right now, and she didn’t want to be at the end of his wrath. But, over the past year, she’s been slowly trying to get him to warm up to her, if not even a little bit. It goes to show that it’s working since Gaara hasn’t tried to kill her in about three months. A new record on her part.

She didn’t want to treat him like everybody else does. So she made it her personal goal to befriend him, no matter how hard it is; and it had been pretty hard. Gaara is still cautious around her, but he lets her touch him and doesn’t try to cover himself in his sand when she gets too close. He seems to talk to her more than usual now, too, and when he does talk to her, without her having to instigate conversation with him, she ate it up, like it was her favorite dessert. “So, you wanna tell me why you decided to shoot your sand at me with lighting speed?” she interrogated. Gaara glanced to her then gazed back at the village below. 

“I was testing you.” that’s all he said. Yua waited for him to say more, but when he didn’t, she shrugged it off.

“Cool, I guess…” she mostly murmured to herself. Yua laid back and went back to looking up at the stars, like she was doing before Gaara showed up.

“You have to be ready for what’s to come.” she wasn’t expecting him to say that. She peaked over to see he was staring back at her. Huffing, she rolled over so her back was facing Gaara.

“I know.” 

She hated this. She didn’t want to do it.

But she knew she didn’t have a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did change the sequence of events, but it's still pretty close to canon, so please don't mind it too much! Please comment, and kudo! Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you all next time! Have a great day/night!
> 
> If you wanna talking to me, my tumblr is naps-and-fooddd


	7. Chunin Exams

The day was finally here. The day of the Chunin Exams. Akina woke up earlier than usual just for this day, even Kakashi was still asleep. She stretched out her tired limbs, and threw the covers off her body. Her feet gently landed on the floor, and she walked out of her room while grabbing a towel as she headed to the bathroom, thinking that a good way to start the day is with a nice hot shower. And since Kakashi is asleep, Akina could take all the time she wanted. 

She took thirty minutes to finally get out of the bathroom, her hair already dry from blow drying it, and clothes already put on. Akina walked to the kitchen and started to make a pot of tea for her and Kakashi, whenever he decided to wake up. 

The door opening slowly, Kakashi stepped out of his room, still a little groggy from sleep, his eyes droopy and heavy. His hair was down, but poking in every which way, making him look younger than he actually was. But even with him being sleepy and unkept, he still had his infamous mask on.

Akina shook her head in amusement, watching as Kakashi stumbled across their shared home from his room to the dining table. When he reached the table and sat down, Akina set aside his favorite cup (it had a paw on it), and a muffin in front of him. “I got these yesterday, when you were out. I haven’t seen you eat breakfast in awhile, so I thought this would be good for you.” she unwrapped it for him and everything. Kakashi rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and nodded in thanks. 

“You really didn’t have to do this for me.” Kakashi yawned out. Seems like Kakashi isn’t much of a morning person. Akina shrugged, hearing the tea go off. She took the pot off the stove and poured some of the contents into his cup, then poured some in her own cup. 

“I know. I have no real obligation to help you with your breakfast needs, but I want to. I’d rather see you fat and happy, not skinny and miserable, starving over documents.” she sighed with indignation, sitting down across from Kakashi. 

“I haven't been miserable.”

“Tell that to your eyebags.” Akina teased, pointing to the bottom of his eyes. Kakashi touched them and huffed out a breath, his bottom lip sticking out. 

“Okay, maybe you're right.” he agreed, taking a small sip of the newly made tea. He gulped minutely, making a face when he was done. “What is this? I don’t think I’ve ever had this kind of flavor before.” Akina took a sip too, liking the taste.

“I got it at a local vendor in town. She said it was imported from the Land of Tea, known for their exotic flavors all around. This one is a mix of lemongrass, spearmint, and hibiscus. Apparently it tastes great in the summertime.” Kakashi made a face again, looking like he just ate a lemon himself.

“Maybe that's why it’s not my liking. It’s too tangy.” he said, but still took a few more gulps. 

“I’ll remember that for next time.” Akina chuckled.

Once done with her cup of tea, she cleaned it and put it out to dry. It was nearing the time that her and Team 7 were supposed to meet, so she quickly strapped up, putting her pouches of water on her hips, as always. Her kunai pouch on her left thigh, tightening it to where she knew it wouldn’t fall off. She looked at the clock, seeing that she could spare a few minutes to eat a muffin of her own. She went back to the kitchen, grabbed the chocolate chip muffin and started to quickly eat with big bites. 

Kakashi watched as she scarfed the muffin down, curious if she was even breathing through it. Taking his last swing of the sour tasting tea, he sat up from the dining table and patted her back. “Hey, actually chew the muffin would you. We don’t want you choking now would we?” Akina rolled her eyes slightly. She set the muffin down and wrapped up the last half of it, wanting to save it for later today.

“I’m not clumsy enough to choke on a muffin, Kakashi. You on the other hand? Who knows, maybe  _ I’ll _ need to save  _ you _ .” she said, smirking. Kakashi scoffed, befuddled.

“When did you get so sassy?” Kakashi questioned, “Have you been spending too much time with Sakura?”

“No, I’m pretty sure I’ve always been this sassy, you just haven’t noticed yet. Kakashi, I think you're just going senile.” Akina goaded, her eyes flashing with amusement. 

“You are slandering me--”

“I gotta go, Kakashi, see you later!” Akina dashed to the entrance and quickly put her shoes on and opened the front door, jumping rooftop to rooftop to get to her destination faster.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, trying to seem exasperated, but he knew deep down inside, he was happy that she was comfortable enough to have her true personality starting to shine through the cracks of her well constructed facade. He always thought something was off when they first met. When he found out that she was just scared and nervous, being in a completely different place, suddenly living with a complete stranger, he couldn’t blame her. Anybody would be scared in such a situation, she was just really good at hiding it more than others.

Kakashi was glad that he asked the Hokage if she could be an honorary member of team 7. He knew she needed friends, knew she needed someone she could relate to, and when he saw how Naruto was around her, Kakashi knew he made the best choice. 

But what he still couldn’t figure out was why the Hokage told him to put her into the Chunin Exams with his team, and not in her own separate team. Kakashi knew Lord Third was a crafty man, but this little puzzle was keeping him at a stalemate. Puffing out a breath of air, we walked to his bedroom, and started to get ready for the day.

  
  


Akina walked to the front of the Ninja Academy, already seeing Sakura and Sasuke there, but no Naruto. Getting close enough she waved to them, Sakura waving back, and Sasuke grunting in acknowledgement. Looking around, she noticed that Naruto was still nowhere to be found. “Hey, do you two know where Naruto is?” she asked, still looking around for him. Sakura shrugged nonchalantly.

“He probably hasn’t even left his house yet.” she chided. 

As if summoned, Naruto came running up to them, out of breath. “Sorry, I’m late guys, I overslept!” he shouted, heaving. Akina gently patted him on his back, trying to calm him down a bit. 

“What a loser.” Sasuke said behind them. Akina looked to him, rolling her eyes in the process. 

“Can’t you have some compassion?” she asked, still patting Naruto’s back, him also glaring up at him. If he wasn’t so out of breath, he would’ve totally throttled Sasuke by now.

Sakura stood between Akina and Sasuke, her arms crossed. “Maybe if Naruto didn’t sleep in, he wouldn’t need to be called a loser, huh?” she huffed hauntily, taking Sasuke’s side. Akina’s left eye twitched, annoyed that everytime that anything happened between Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura would  _ always _ take Sasuke’s side. Even if it didn’t make any sense whatsoever. 

Naruto straightened out from his crouch and glared at Sasuke, Akina close to his side. 

“Call me whatever you want, Sasuke, I’m still better than you!”

“Yeah, in your dreams.” Sasuke responded, starting to walk to the entrance of the Academy, Sakura following closely behind. Naruto growled, about to run over and hit Sasuke upside over the head, but Akina stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. 

“Naruto, don’t let him get to you.” she whispered to him, tightening her hold on his shoulder. Naruto looked to her then back where Sasuke was, his hands turning into fits.

“He’s just so annoying.” he said back to her. Akina chuckled and nodded in agreement. 

“But, you know, as weird as your and Sasuke’s dynamic is, I think you guys are quite close. I think that fighting or arguing is your guys’ way of communicating.” she ventured, leading Naruto to the doors of the academy. Naruto tilted his head in thought, not really understanding how she got that out of their constant bickering. 

“Yeah, I don’t know about that one, Akina.” he said back, confused. She giggled and just patted his shoulder, opening the door for him. 

“I think you’ll figure it out someday.”

  
  
  
  


When Naruto and Akina finally caught up to Sasuke and Sakura, there was already a group of people in front of the door the candidates were supposed to go into. Though the atmosphere felt strange to Akina, like it was warped, she couldn’t really pinpoint as to why. She felt it odd, like there was a wall of smoke, blinding her from actually seeing what was there. 

Before she could think about it a bit more, she heard a thud, and saw a boy fall over. He was wearing a green jumpsuit, with the bushiest eyebrows she has ever seen. He was caught by a girl with buns in her. She got up and talked to the people that were guarding the door, but got hit in the face. Akina couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it seemed like there was an obvious argument going on. 

Sasuke went up to the two casually, “That was a nice speech, but I’m gonna need you to move, and while you’re at it, remove the genjutsu, we can see through your illusion anyway,” Akina had a lightbulb turn on in her when Sasuke said ‘genjutsu,’  _ so that’s what that was, _ she thought to herself, “we’re going to the third floor.” Sasuke claimed. People behind them started to murmur that they were already on the third floor. 

“Well, well, so you saw through our genjutsu, huh.” one of the guards said. Sasuke smirked and looked towards Sakura.

“Go on Sakura, I’m sure you saw it before anybody else, you do have the sharpest eyes and the best analytical skills of the squad.” Sasuke complimented. Sakura looked confused for a moment, before putting on a confident aura. 

“Well sure, yeah, I spotted it right away. This is only the second floor, not the third.” she voiced out. Naruto nodded along, and Akina just knew Naruto didn’t have a clue what was going on. 

“Well, aren’t you smart, but can you dodge this!” the guard with the spiky hair yelled out before kicking, going for Sasuke. Sasuke lifted his leg up quickly to counter the other, but was soon stopped by the boy in the jumpsuit. When their legs were both caught midair, the two dropped them, Sasuke in awe and shocked someone was fast enough to stop his kick like that. They must have some chakra in his hands to do that. 

“Lee, I thought you wanted to keep a low profile” a boy with long hair, and beautiful lavender eyes said to the other boy dubbed as Lee. 

“Yes, I know, but--” he looked to Sakura, then suddenly walked over to her. He bowed to her and announced, “I will protect you forever, so will you please be my girlfriend?!” 

Sakura looked stupefied, “Uh, absolutely not.” she rejected, and Lee slumped, saddened by it. 

“Why not?” he asked in a dejected tone. She blached and shook her head.

“Cause you’re a weirdo!”

While that happened, the boy with the long hair was talking to Sasuke. Akina couldn’t make out what they were saying, as she wanted to stay back and not be a part of the show, that everyone was watching, but she felt Sasuke was being rude as usual. She went to see if Naruto knew what they were talking about, but found him standing next to Lee, looking just as dejected as Lee was. She chuckled, thinking he looked adorable, all pouty like that.

“Hey, Sasuke, Naruto, Akina, let’s go already!” Sakura exclaimed, taking hold of Naruto’s and Sasuke’s hand. At the least minute, Naruto grabbed hers, and they were dragged along to the third floor.

  
  
  


There was a large opening with pillars on the third floor, the sun coming in easily, making it warmer than the second floor. They were all in a comfortable silence, trekking their way to the actual room they were supposed to go for the first trial.

But something wasn’t right., Akina felt an intense shiver run up her spine, making her stop in her tracks. She covered the back of her neck, she looked around the open room, trying to search for the eyes she definitely felt that were on her. When Naruto put a hand to her shoulder, she flinched and jerked it off, her scared eyes looking into Naruto’s worried ones. “Akina, what’s wrong? You suddenly stopped walking.” he said, putting his hands on her arms now, trying to ground her. She shook her head back and forth, looking everywhere around the room. The feeling kept getting more and more intense, her knees buckling under her.

She pushed Naruto away, trying to get space from him, her breathing coming in pants, “I, uh, I’ll be right back--I just need to use the bathroom--you guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up.” without waiting for their reply, Akina swiftly left them in the dust and ran. She didn’t know why, but the feeling was getting really bad, and she thought she was hearing a voice. A voice telling her to follow. _. _ To follow what? She didn’t know, but she knew that if she didn’t move now, it would get unbearable later.

Akina didn’t really know where she was heading towards, her mind blank, only this voice telling her to go this way and that way. She passed several people she didn’t recognize, but at the same time, they felt extremely familiar to her. The colors around her were starting to blend together, so much so, her surroundings were starting to go dark. The black became all consuming. Akina’s heart was beating faster, her feet moving faster, trying to get her away from the blackness. The voice was louder now, telling her to follow, follow, _ follow! _

She tripped on something hard, falling face first in a patch of grass. Akina quickly got up from the ground, frantically looking around her to see that she ran into the forest near the academy. The voice nor the feeling she was getting was there now, it was all quiet. Peaceful. But, something catches her eye; a person, laying down, the sun rays passing through the trees, directly onto the person. She moved closer, finding it to be a girl.

The girl sat up slowly, turning her head to Akina, and where her eyes were supposed to be, there were black holes. Blood was oozing from them, gliding down her young face. Her mouth was open, the blood getting inside there too. Akina was horrified at what she was seeing, but couldn’t shake the feeling the girl was supposed to be her. “This has to be a genjutsu or something. This can’t be real, this can’t be real, this can’t be--” 

The younger girl evaporated for a second, then appeared inches in front of Akina, her breath moving the hair that was on Akina’s face. Akina held her breath, then all of a sudden, the little version of her screamed loudly, the shrill high pitched and inhumane, her jaw falling wider and wider, like a snake’s. Akina couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed with her, letting out her fear in one fell swoop, until her legs gave out and she fell to the ground.

She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see the terrifying sight, tears welling up. She panted, trying to catch her breath, her heart rate going as fast as a racing horse. Her legs and hands were shaking uncontrollably, her mind jumbled up in a mess of terror and panic. Akina didn’t hear the voice calling to her until she felt a slap to her back.

Instantly, as if the switch was turned off from her ongoing nightmare, the world seemed bright again. When she blinked her eyes open, she noticed that she wasn’t in the forest anymore, she was in front of the Academy. People were staring at her with perplexity, obviously concerned for welfare, but not enough to actually do anything about it. She looked over to her right and saw the girl she met a few days ago that was with the Sand Village. It seemed like she was mouthing something, but Akina couldn’t hear her. “I-I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” she asked. 

“I said, are you okay? You were just standing there with a blank look on your face. You were freaking people out.” the dark skinned girl asked. Akina blinked a few times, a sudden headache coming on, but she nodded anyway.

“Ah, yes, I’m fine. I think. I was just spacing out. I got lost, trying to find the bathroom.”

“Uhuh, outside. In front of the Academy building. Gotcha.” she said sarcastically. She then took Akina’s hand and pulled her back to the building. “Anyways, we should go or we’ll be late to the first trial!” she yelled out excitedly.

“I didn’t catch your name, what was it?” Akina asked. The girl smiled, lifting two fingers, doing a mock salute.

“I’m Yua! Let’s get along!” 

Akina smiled back slightly. She was grateful for Yua slapping her the way she did, or she didn't know what would have happened. Akina looked back, the trepidation still prevalent.

“Nice to meet you too, Yua. I’m Akina.” she replied back. Yua giggled, her smile warm. She tightened her hold on Akina’s hand and started to run. 

“Well Akina, let’s do this thing!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't like this as much as I wanted to, but I really didn't know how to write it like how I was imagining it, so it took me awhile. But I hoped you liked it! Please kudo and comment! Hell, even bookmark it! Please! Go nuts! But anyway, I'll see you next time you swell people you!


	8. Chunin Exams part 2

Yua led Akina to the designated room where all the future Chunin were supposed to meet. She opened the door, and once inside, Akina was surprised at how many shinobi were already there. Either sitting in groups, talking in whispers, or standing tall, glowering at anybody who looked in their direction. When they walked in, it suddenly turned silent, all eyes were on them. Some had nothing but themselves, while others had unique weapons. Their collective stares unnerved Akina, but instead of letting them scare her, she moved away from Yua, letting her hand go. 

She bowed slightly in gratefulness towards Yua and muttered out, “Thank you for your help, Yua, I really appreciate it,” she straightened out and smiled slightly, “I would’ve gotten lost if it weren’t for you.” 

Yua grinned back at Akina and patted her on the shoulder, “No need for thanks,” she then leaned in close to Akina’s and whispered lowly, “just make sure you survive these trials, okay?” she moved away, “now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta get back to my team!” with that, Yua walked to her group where the three Sand shinobi were. They seemed like they were already watching her, especially the boy with the gourd on his back. He was staring at her intently, and when she got close enough to tell them what had happened, he looked back to Akina and narrowed his eyes. They were filled with hatred and anger, just like when she first met him. He looked back to Yua, and moved closer, all of them making a close knit circle to listen to Yua.

Sakura bumped shoulders with Akina, causing her to snap out of her daze. “Akina, where have you been, you were gone for so long. And what was that about, coming in with that girl?” she asked. Akina turned fully towards her. She glanced behind her and saw Naruto and Sasuke talking to a man with glasses. They looked like they were in an intense conversation, and cards were laid out, though she couldn’t see what was on them. 

“I went to the bathroom, but got lost on the way. Really lost. So lost, I had to get help from the enemy.” Akina crossed her arms, a little embarrassment she had to lie like that. As much as she wanted to tell her friend the real reason, Akina still didn’t want to believe it actually happened, and as much as she wanted to forget it, it still chilled her to the core. 

“Wow, you really have a bad sense of direction, huh.” Sakura giggled out. Akina shrugged, giggling along with her. 

“Yeah, maybe I do. But, anyway, what’s going on over there? What are all of you doing, huddle up like that.” Akina questioned. When she looked back for a second time, she noticed other people were also there. She saw Hinata, Kiba, and Shino of Team 8, and Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji of Team 10 also gathered around the stranger. They all watched as he spun a card with his middle finger, a picture suddenly appearing. 

“Oh, they’re gathering information on some people in the Exams. Come on.” Sakura said, and pulled on Akina, leading her to the group. “Sorry to interrupt, but look who just walked in.” 

The talking stopped and everyone looked over to Akina, making her uncomfortable. Some eyes she knew, but some were new, such as Kiba and Hinata. She never really talked to them, but she knew they were good people. She still didn’t like their eyes on her, though. “Uh, hi, sorry. I got lost.” Akina muttered out, locking eyes with the stranger, his round glasses gleaming in the light. He smiled up at her from his crouching position, and Akina did not like him one bit. Not at all. To her, he looked shady. Slitherly, like a snake. 

“Akina! Damn, you were gone for so long, I thought you fell into the toilet bowl!” Naruto said loudly, harshly patting her on the shoulder. She coughed and chuckled slightly.

“Wow, thanks Naruto, really.” she said sarcastically. Naruto smiled wide, his hand still on her back. He was most likely trying to comfort her, still worried about what happened before Akina separated with the rest of the team. 

Akina smirked a little to herself, the feel of Naruto’s hand, warm and comforting, making her relax by the second. With a brief sigh, Akina looked down and saw that the card the man had under his finger had a picture of the boy with the gourd. She bent down, examining it. “Ahh, so these are like information cards or something?” she asked the owner. He nodded.

“Something like that. And this one is of Gaara of the Sand.” everyone around him looked at the card, examining its content. Akina noticed that, even with him being a Genin, he did a B level rank mission, meaning that he was fairly strong for how young he was. The man with the glasses voiced her thoughts to the group, all of them shocked at what they heard, “apparently, in all the missions that he has been on, he always came out of it unharmed. Absolutely no wounds.” 

“Interesting, though I’m not surprised.” Akina said, rubbing her chin in thought. 

“What do you mean you're not surprised?” Sasuke asked, a little peeved. She peered over to him and shrugged. 

“I mean when we ran into him that one day, I sensed extreme power from him. Mixed with how murderous he felt, of course I’m not surprised. What I  _ am _ surprised about, is how bad your people skills are, Sasuke.” she poked fun. Sasuke glared at her immediately, the boys behind her snickering at her jab. “But, this is kinda cool, these card thingies. Do you think you can do me?” Akina requests the man. He chuckled, putting the card back in the thick stack. 

“I can certainly try. What’s your name?” 

“Akina Seto.” she said confidently. As soon as the man heard what her name was, he lost his grip on his stack of cards, all of them falling and scattering to the floor. “Is there something wrong, Mister?”

“Oh no! Nothing’s wrong, just--lost my grip for a second there. And call me Kabuto.” he said hastily, getting all of his cards back together. He took one from the top and spun it easily from his middle finger. But, when the spinning stopped, it only revealed a blank canvas. Kabuto furrowed his eyebrows and spun it again, but the same thing happened. The card couldn’t show what Akina wanted to see. “I’m sorry, I guess since I didn’t really gather info on you, there isn’t much to see.” he said, rubbing his neck. Akina tilted her head to the side, a little disappointed that she couldn’t see what her stats were. She huffed out and stood up straight.

“That’s okay. I wasn’t expecting much anyway.” she bemoaned. 

After her failure at seeing her skill level, she moved to the back of the group, no longer interested in what Kabuto had to say. She did, though, listen to him talking about how he had little to no information on the Sound ninja that were here, granted, there were only three of them. He ended his little presentation, with talking about how the competition was tough, all the Hidden Villages showing off their most exceptional shinobi. 

“So it would seem. It’s almost enough to make you lose your confidence.” Hinata whispered. Akina knew what she meant; all of these strong ninja, in one room, some going to fight each other in the future to see who is stronger. It was pretty intimidating. She walked over to Hinata, placing her hand gently on her shoulder. 

“I know it may seem scary, Hinata, but we all have to keep our head high, and make sure we do our best, right?” Akina comforted. Hinata gazed toward Akina, surprised at her kind words. They both never really talked to each other on a personal level, so it was a bit awkward. Hinata stood quiet for a second before nodding slowly, a small smile gracing her face.

“Right. Thank you, Akina.”

“No problem.” Akina patted her for the last time then dropped her hand. She then looked over to Naruto, who’s whole body was shivering from head to toe. Sakura and Akina glanced at each other before going over to Naruto. “Hey, Naruto, it's going to be fine, we’re all going to do our best, and have some fun, yeah?”

“Yeah, like Akina said, we’re going to be fine--” before Sakura could finish her sentence, Naruto let out a scream, putting his hand up in the air and pointed to the other candidates with a sanguine grin.

“My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I’m going to beat every one of ya! Believe it!” Naruto exclaimed. Akina pacefalmed, instantly regretting ever trying to comfort him.  _ Of course, he wouldn’t need it, it’s Naruto we’re talking about. Anything to do with him becoming the Hokage, and he’ll be fine,  _ she thought. Shaking her head and chuckling, she went to Naruto and lightly smacked his backside. 

“Naruto what are you trying to do? Are you trying to have targets on our backs?” she demands. Naruto looks over to her confused, lowering his hand back down to his side. 

“Oh, ahaha, oops!” he says, rubbing the back of his head, laughing at his mistake. Akina facepalmed again, her shoulders drooping in indignation. 

  
  


Yua and her group looked over to Akina and the blond boy who yelled out. She smirked, amused at their antics. “That’s the same kid from before isn’t it?” Kankuro asked. Temari nodded and scoffed.

“He yips just like a puppy.” Yua crossed her arms and leaned back against the seat she was in. 

“Well, if anything, they're spunky. It’ll be fun to watch them, and see what they can do.” Yua commented, eyeing Gaara. He was being a little too quiet for her liking, his eyes were glued to the people in the back. She discreetly took his hand in hers, trying to keep from doing anything rash, and having them stand out even more than the ones yelling in the back. When he felt her skin against hers, Gaara sucked in a tiny breath and looked back to her, only to see that she was talking to Kankuro and Temari. He looked to their hands, and squeezed, barely noticeable to Yua.

  
  
  


Akina tried to get Sakura to stop choking Naruto and reprimanding him for being a moron. She turned to the audience they had and bowed apologetically. “I’m so sorry for him, he really doesn’t mean it. He’s just a little eccentric, that’s all.” Akina claimed. She then turned back to help Sakura scold Naruto into not  _ ever _ doing  _ that _ again. 

As she got tired of telling him off, Akina suddenly felt a change in the atmosphere. She turned to Kabuto, seeing that he also sensed the disturbance. She started to walk over to him, but jumped when she got a glimpse of one of the shinobi throwing kunai at Kabuto, to which he dodged. Another ninja went to punch him, but he dodged that too. 

Kabuto put on a smug smirk, thinking that we won, until his glasses suddenly shattered. Akina looked at him in shock, not understanding what just happened. “So that’s what you did.” Kabuto said, taking off his frames, his smug smirk still there. Sasuke was behind her, voicing out what she was thinking, but before Kabuto could say anything more, he gasped and collapsed, throwing up.

Naruto and Sakura went to see if he was okay, Akina following them. She looked at the shinobi that attacked him. It was the three were from the Sound Village that Kabuto was talking about earlier. By her guess, they were trying to make a statement to not mess with them. Her guess was turned into a fact when they started to spew about how they would surely become Chunin, and how they aren’t weak. She rolled her eyes, clenching her fist. Akina wanted to kick their butts, and show them they weren’t all that, but she would be just as bad as them. Plus, she didn’t like Kabuto, so it wasn’t all bad.

In an instant, there was a sound of an explosion, and a puff of smoke in the front of the room. When the smoke dissipated, an older man was standing in the midst of it. His head was covered with a bandana, and his face had two scars on it, one on his right cheek and once going through his lips. There were also several other people behind him, all with smirks of arrogance or eyes of contempt. “Okay, all you degenerates, it’s time for your first trial. I am your proctor, and from this moment on, your worst enemy.” he announced.

  
  
  
  
  


The rules were simple: 

Each individual will all be given ten points in the beginning. Each problem is one point. It is a point deduction system. One will lose one point for each problem you get wrong.

Pass or fail will be determined by the team’s total points together. And if one person on the team gets zero points the whole team fails the first trial.

If the sentinels find anybody cheating, two points will be deducted. That was pretty much it. Easy one the surface, but not actually that simple.

Akina was sitting next to Naruto, Hinata on his right. As Ibiki rambled on, she noticed him slowly losing his sanity. Naruto told her he was pretty bad at tests and stuff, but she didn’t think it was this bad.

But, she wasn’t that good with tests either. If anything she was pretty average at them, so this was going to be such a pain to get through. She looked around the room, not really paying attention to what Ibiki was saying, but she locked eyes with some of the sentinels. They were trying to be intimidating; it wasn’t working. “The last problem will be given forty five minutes after the test. You may begin!” she heard Ibiki say, and with an echo of paper flipping over, everyone started the test.

With a dull ache in her stomach she flipped her paper and immediately wanted to gag. There were so many complicated words and half of the questions made no sense. Tapping the pencil on the first one, she started to read it, but soon gave up. The trajectory of what? Find things on what thing? None of her teachers taught her this. They just said to go with the flow, not be technical and actually  _ think. _

This. This will be the end of her.

She wasn’t dumb per se, but this was definitely out of her league. But, she could definitely cheat. Maybe. Should she take that risk? Ibiki said that if anybody was caught cheating, they'll get two points off and if it reaches zero, they’ll fail. Not just them, everybody on the team will fail…Oh well.

Akina slides down her seat, and uncaps her pouches. She glances around to see if anybody was paying her any mind. Seeing that nobody was watching, she carefully controlled the water to go above her, and noticed she could see her reflection decently. 

Smirking, she manipulated the bubble to go over to someone who looked smart enough to know the answers. Correct on her assumption, she started to copy their answers onto her own paper, making sure that none of the sentinels were watching.

  
  


Thirty minutes pass. Akina finished the paper, with the help of her partner, who didn't know was her partner. Controlling the water back into the pouches and setting her pencil down, she flipped the paper over and stretched back. 

As she was taking the test, many people were caught cheating enough that they failed the exam and had to leave, along with their team. It was nerve wracking, Akina didn’t want to get caught, and let her team down. Luckily, she wasn’t caught and finished in just enough time. 

Akina also noticed that Sakura was smart to figure it out herself, go figure, she was smart alright. And it seemed like Sasuke was cheating, and hopefully won’t get caught. Naruto on the other hand was still having a tough time. He hadn’t started on question one, let alone any of the other questions. She sighed, wanting to help, but at the same time, didn’t want to ruin this opportunity for any of them.

_ I’m sorry Naruto, you’re just gonna have to suffer for now until, maybe, the last question. _

“Alright you scoundrels, it’s time for the tenth question!” Ibiki yelled out. Akina watched as Naruto clenched his head. “But I’m going to add some rules to the last question. First, you all can choose if you want to answer this question or not and if you don’t take it, then you’ll get a zero,” this piqued Akina’s interest, “and the second rule is if you answer the tenth question wrong, you aren’t ever get to take this exam ever again.” there was a rumble of disagreements and shock. Akina was as equally shocked as them. Lose all rights to take the exam? Forever?  _ Was this guy a sadist or something? _

“For those who don’t want to answer the next question, raise your hand!” it was silent for a moment, until one after the other people started to raise their hands, their faces had an expression of defeat. Akina knew this wasn’t what they wanted, but what else could they do? This whole thing was stacked against the people who weren’t up for it. She was confident that her team would make it, despite everything. 

Akina peered to Naruto again, only to see he was raising his hand. She gasped, “N-Naruto, hey, I know this is hard but you don’t have to--”

Naruto suddenly slammed his hand onto the table in front of him screaming, “Don’t underestimate me! I won’t run away, and even if I’ll be a Genin forever, I’ll still become Hokage someday! No matter what it takes, and you all better believe it!” he stood up, getting his point across even more, “I’m not scared!” he then sat back down and crossed his arms, his face a mix of determination and resolution. Akina sighed, and dropped her head to the table, suddenly exhausted.

“Naruto, you will give me a heart attack one of these days, I swear...” she whispered to herself.

“I’ll ask again. If anybody wants to leave, do so now!” nobody even attempted to get up. Ibiki chuckled, “Well, since nobody left, you all pass!” there was another wave of shouts and confusion. Akina was also confused, but listened to Ibiki to hear what he meant. “The first part of the exam was to see how you would gather information, and the second part of the exam was to see if you had the guts to stay, even if it was a lose-lose situation. And seeing as all who are here are still present, you all pass the first trial!” he exclaimed, laughing hysterically. 

_ Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me, this guy really is a sadist,  _ Akina thought, hitting her forehead on the table lightly, extremely tired of this exam already. 

Turning her head to see Naruto, he had a look of astonishment on his features, his pencil rolling away from him. “Oh yeah, I knew all of that already! Totally!” Naruto said, laughing nervously. 

“You didn’t, did you, Naruto.” Akina stated. Naruto sputtered and glared at her. 

“Shut up! I totally knew, Akina! What about you, huh? Did you know?! HUH!?”

“Why yes, I did.” she lied. If Naruto knew she absolutely didn’t know that was the objective of the exam, he would never let her live it down. Before Naruto could retort, a ball flew through the window, shattering it. Two kunai flew in opposite directions to hang a banner of sorts and in the middle of it was a woman with a coat and a spiky ponytail. Her body language said that she isn’t one to be messed with.

“Alright you maggots, who’s ready for the next trial!” she bellowed out. Akina sighed, hitting her head, once again, on the table. 

_ This is going to be a disaster. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you all like this chapter! Please comment and kudo, and be an overall great person! See you next time!


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